Cut Through Their Sides and Rip Off Their Hides: The 21st Hunger Games
by SilverflowerXRavenpaw
Summary: Same as always. Now closed, but you can still read!
1. Intro and Jazz

**Capitol Fella**

 _How did I get here?_

 _How did any of us get here?_

 _Deep._

* * *

 **IIIIIIII'm writing another SYOT! Most of you know this, many of you have submitted/reserved. Here are the formalities to get it up, and I will post a list soon (I currently don't have access to my mega-doc).**

 **Name:** If you only have a first name, it'll do. I might fill in the last name if you don't, but they might not get one. I take anything (I would literally accept ABCDEFGHIJK LMNO P) but I do prefer tributes that don't have accent marks over letters. It's annoying to get the accent mark in each POV, and I might remove the accent mark.

 **District:** You can list more than one if you like, in order of priority. That way, if your slot is taken, you still get a District you want

 **Age:** Pretty self-explanatory

 **Appearance:** It can be a blurb or a paragraph, I don't care. There's a decent chance I'll hardly describe them. Fair warning.

 **Personality:** This can also be a sentence or a three-page essay. I'll try to write it well.

 **Backstory:** I ask for a bit of info, but you don't need tons. Two or three sentences would be great, but if you give me less I'll fill it in.

 **Family:** You can say everything about each member, or just names and positions.

 **Reaped/Volunteered:**

 **Reaction/Reason:** Really pretty self-explanatory. Stoic tributes get unrealistic, and basic scared gets boring.

 **Reaping Scene:** Reapings can get boring. If you don't want your tribute's first POV to be a Reaping, send in what you do want here. Note: I mean a daily life scene. If you ask for a train ride, their first scene will be a Reaping.

 **Reaping Outfit:** You don't have to fill this in. If you don't, it's automatically a T-Shirt and jeans.

 **Token:** It's optional, and I might not mention it, but if you don't put it in you almost certainly won't get one, unless I spontaneously feel like making one. (Example: I made Annika's token (from Rising to Victory) her sister's bracelet.)

 **Strengths:** I don't care how many you have, but try not to be too crazy. That thirteen-year-old from 11 is not going to be buff and know how to use every weapon. Also, don't overlook simple things like being small so she can hide.

 **Weaknesses:** You can have many or few, I don't mind. If you do stupid things like "He's too perfect!" I will have him spend so long trying to be perfect that he starves. Other than that, I try not to be too harsh.

 **Weapon of Choice:** This isn't entirely necessary, but it's very useful, especially if your tribute makes it to the top three, when I sometimes start mass-sponsoring for interest purposes. If you don't list one, it will probably be spear or knife.

 **Where they go in the Training Center:** They can go as many places as you want, but the more places they go the less they know about each thing. I don't mind jacks-of-all-trades, they just don't always win.

 **What they show the Gamemakers:** I don't care how detailed or basic this is. "Throwing knives" would work, but so would "(x) throws twelve knives, getting two bulls-eyes, but missing the target entirely once. The Gamemakers 'ooh' and 'ahh.'"

 **Training Score:** I take what's given to me. It doesn't really matter anyways, since you're the sponsors.

 **Capitol Scenes:** No guarantee that it'll get written, but it might. This is just fun things the tributes can do for a nice break from training scenes.

 **Parade Outfit:** Please list some idea. If you need I'll fill it in, but it will probably be stupid and crummy. (Ex: An electric toothbrush)

 **Interview Outfit:** If you don't fill this one in, I will, but it'll be lame. Like a white dress. (I literally used a white dress in Rising to Victory)

 **Interview Angle:** Please be creative. Not everyone is nice and innocent. I'll accept it, but it's way more fun to read someone who tries to be a clown

 **Bloodbath Plan:**

 **Will they die in the Bloodbath?:** Let's face it, some tributes have to die in the Bloodbath. If I don't get enough Bloodbaths, I'll choose some random ones.

 **Games Plan:** Everyone running and hiding makes it boring. I'll take it, but I'll probably pick people off with mutts if that happens.

 **Other:** Are they allergic to bananas? Do they like Persian cats more than sphynxes? Does the color yellow disgust them? This is where you can put random stuff like that. Again, it might not get written, but it might.

 **Preferred Death:** The odds are your tribute won't win. This is pretty much a consolation prize if they don't.

 **Predicted Placement:** It might not matter, but if you expect your tribute to get 13th, they're less likely to win. Also, really high predicted placements on weak tributes annoys me, which probably won't be the death of your tribute, but it could be a factor. (Ex: If LCS said Smudge was going to get first, I wouldn't like Smudge as much.)

 **Allying or No:** If you want them to ally, you'll need to get both parties' permission, unless I partner people up myself. I generally don't, but sometimes it works.

 **Fight or Flight Instinct:** Will they run from confrontation, or face it head on?

 **Couple of notes: I might force myself to write less than I did for the last story (I really did make myself write sometimes), and I have another project (A Shot in the Dark: The Third Hunger Games). That being said, updates might be semi-sporadic. Fair warning.**


	2. List

**D1M:** Polaris Flash (17) Platrium/Tracelynn (Certainly) - Career **  
D1F:** Havanna Gonzalez (18) **-** Caleb (Certainly) - Career **  
D2M:** Edric Lyons (18) - TitanMaddix (Certainly) - Career **  
D2F:** Bridget Striker (17) - MewKitCat (Certainly) - Career **  
D3M:** Excel Witijenn (13) - 66samvr (So certainly) **-** Seeking allies **  
D3F:** Eris Harmon (16) - The Utter Happenstance - Not seeking allies **  
D4M:** Swift Counter (18) - TheAmazingJAJ (Certainly, I think) - Career **  
D4F:** Rialta Vernall (18) Winter's Writing (Certainly) - Seeking allies **  
D5M:** Turbo White (15) LCS (Certainly) - Open to any allies **  
D5F:** Margherita Leiherr (14) - XxIsabeline de las MercedesxX (Certainly to the best of my knowledge) - Seeking young female allies **  
D6M:** Omri Rakesh (18) - foxfox12 (Certainly) - Seeking old, responsible allies  
 **D6F:** Althea Fender (16) - Red Roses1000 (Certainly) - Seeking allies **  
D7M:** Forrest Wonderland (15) -AmericanPi - Already has only ally **  
D7F:** Sylvia Blanc (15) AmericanPi (Both certainly on special request) - Already has only ally **  
D8M:** Caddis Hibbett (12) - DestroyNotCreate (Certainly) - Seeking allies  
 **D8F:** Amelia 'Amy' Songbird (14) - AlyssumBellgrove (certainly) - (Allying with Lorenk, but you do you) **  
D9M:** Lorenk Pritchett (16) - Manny61945 (Certainly) - (Allying with Amelia Songbird, but hey, you can still ask) **  
D9F:** Tori Harris (18) - Fire'sCatching (Certainly) - Seeking same-age allies  
 **D10M:** Derwin Ciervo (17) - ItSaCaTwOrLd (Certainly) - Seeking mean allies (PM me or Cat for info) **  
D10F:** Nyra Pickering (17) - Aceswims (Certainly) - Seeking allies **  
D11M:** Robin "Mute" Ceviros (18) - Deviance52 - Definitely seeking allies **  
D11F:** Saige Lark (15) - District Nine Tribute (Certainly) - Only allying if approached **  
D12M:** Orrick "Ric" Jasso (14) - later . glader (Certainly) - Seeking allies **  
D12F:** Appalachia Sooner (12) -Paperairline (Certainly) - Seeking allies (hopefully older)

 **I think you know the Certainly/2/Etc thing. Please PM me if I reserved you a slot and forgot it. I am one to do that.**

 **Sponsoring and allying are the same as always. We keep it simple.**


	3. District Seven Reapings

**Forrest Wonderland (15) D7M**

"All right, Forrest. I'm going to show you a magic trick!" Lizzie said to me, pulling a deck of cards out of her pocket. She held them out in front of herself for a second, then continued. "Let's see if it's real magic this time!" I knew the drill. She would show me an illusion, I would try to figure out what's going on.

"Well, I'm not going to let you go into this with an advantage," I said, jokingly. "Let me shuffle the deck for you." Lizzie sighed and handed me the deck, and I grinned. If I shuffled it, it meant it probably wouldn't be a simple card-counting trick, like so many of hers were. I'd have a real challenge, and hopefully, I wouldn't be able to guess it. Then I'd have to learn something new, instead of just figuring out what I already knew.

"Okay. You shuffled it. Now, this trick does require me to hide the deck sometimes, which means you might figure it out pretty quickly. Just roll with it, okay?" Lizzie said, dropping the play-act of saying she was doing magic. I nodded. I could try and figure out a simple illusion trick, which was most of what Lizzie knew. There wasn't much time to practice anything else in Seven.

"Pick a card, any card," Lizzie said as soon as I handed her the deck. She fanned out the deck, and I took one of the cards near the left. She tended to expect me to take one of the ones in the center, so I was trying to throw her off-track even farther. Lizzie put the deck behind her back, muttered some fancy chants that both of us knew were just poking fun at the whole ordeal, and then revealed the deck. She picked a card off the top of the deck and showed it to me. "Is this your card?"

"Oh, come on, Lizzie! You just left it on top," I said, already done with the trick. She had shown me that one a hundred times. The eight of spades I had shown her had never left the top. She shook her head.

"Nope! It's not done yet. Let me have that card back." Lizzie took the card from me, then put it on top of the deck. She then picked it back up and put it in the center of the deck, then shuffled a couple of times. "Now, is _this_ you card?" Lizzie asked, taking the top card and showing it to me. It was still the eight of spades. I nodded, somewhat confused.

"Can I see the deck?" Lizzie showed me the deck, fanning it out, so I could tell it wasn't only eights of spades. That didn't make any sense. I had watched her shuffle the card back in. "All right, how'd you do it?" I asked, after eight long minutes of considering.

"Easy. I showed you a pair of cards that was really only one. The one on the bottom was yours, and the one on the top was a seed. I moved the seed, and yours never moved." _Tricky._

* * *

 **Sylvia Blanc (15) D7F**

I watched as Winnifred walked onto the stage. This whole ordeal was awfully boring. I wished that girls and boys could mix. If they could, I could be with Forrest during the entire Reaping. That would be a whole lot better than lurking around with people I didn't know, and who didn't care about me. If I was with Forrest and I got Reaped, then I would be able to see his reaction. That might even be enough to have me keep going.

The video was boring, so I didn't really pay attention. I had seen it twice before. I perked up when Winnifred walked over to the bowls and reached for the names. That was worth paying attention to. It would be bad if I didn't hear myself get called, or if I didn't hear Forrest get called. If he got Reaped, my life would pretty much be over.

"Let's go with the boys first, shall we? Our male tribute is... Forrest Wonderland!" Winnifred called, loudly enough for the entire District to hear. I jumped.

"Oh no," I said to myself, so quietly I wasn't fully certain I had said it. I found myself shaking and crying, trying to figure out exactly how I was supposed to live without my boo. What could I possibly do without him? He was my life and my all. I stared at him while he walked onto the stage, and I found him looking at me. He tried to smile, but I knew he was scared. Nobody wouldn't be.

"Our female tribute is Sylvia Blanc!"

"Oh dear." I walked up onto the stage, already grieving myself and my boyfriend. This wouldn't do at all. I was going to die, or I was going to lose my reason to live. That wasn't okay.

"You're going to be fine, Syvlia. I'll stay with you until I die," Forrest whispered to me while Winnifred announced us. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly, and I nodded.

"I'll love you forever, Forrest. Together till the end."

* * *

 **What can I say? I'm impatient.**


	4. District Twelve Reapings

**Orrick "Ric" Jasso (14) D12M**

"Hey, everyone! Do you want donuts?" I said to my entire class. I had been saving up for forever to save up enough money to buy a bunch of donuts. The richer kids around Twelve had even pitched in a little bit, knowing enough about my reputation to know that helping me buy donuts would be worth their time. I just had to promise not to do anything to their donuts, which I had. I had three cream-filled donuts, and a bunch of other ones.

"Can we trust them?" Coal asked me. I shrugged.

"Take your chances. It's a donut, after all," I said, trying to seem innocent. I was many things, but a liar was not one of them.

Auxi, one of the higher-class girls in Twelve, got up. "I would _love_ a donut, Ric. Which one should I take?" She was one of the girls that I promised to give a nice donut, and I held true to my word. I picked out one of the cream-filled ones and offered it to her.

"This is delicious!" Auxi said, taking a huge bite of her donut. I smiled and grabbed one myself, leaving one more cream-filled one for Onyx, the other dude who I promised a nice donut. I made a mental note of where it was while other kids started to get up, each suspiciously grabbing a donut before sitting back down. They all waited until everyone had a donut to take a bite, like the teacher wanted them to. Auxi wouldn't be punished for breaking the rules, because somebody had to initiate around me. I handed Onyx his donut, then sat down.

"Everybody, say thank you to Orrick for this lovely treat," our teacher said. The children droned out the polite thank you they were supposed to say, then started taking bites of their donuts. I ate mine casually, watching Auxi's and Onyx's eyes light up as the other kids strained to keep their donuts in their mouths.

"What did you put in these?" Phite asked me, spitting his donut out. The teacher glared at him, but she understood the situation. This was not my first time ruining a treat for the class.

"I guess it might not have been cream. It's hard to tell that apart from the mayonnaise," I said, still faking innocence. All of the kids glared at me, but that would pass. They could still be happy about the outside of the donut, and about the chocolate frosting. It was all fun and games.

* * *

 **Appalachia Sooner (12) D12F**

"All right, one more time. Anthra, you're going in first. Go for the high-end stuff, but don't actually steal anything. Then you can't be charged for theft. Shaft, you go in next. Go in a little ways, then pretend to grab something. Again, don't take anything. Then the rest of us will come in. First the littlest, then the mediums, and then me. We all good?" I was addressing all the kids in our huddle, a bunch of kids that all slept in the same alley. They all nodded. There were only about ten of us, so our plan was a big exaggerated, but it would probably get the job done.

Anthra ran in, and we waited for the first yell. Then Shaft ran in, and we waited for more yells. Once it sounded like there was sufficient panic, and it seemed like every eye in the store had been diverted, the other kids started running in. I waited until every kid was in, and then I ran in. I didn't know exactly where I was going, since I was too poor to even walk into the store we were attacking.

 _What's nearby, what's nearby?_ I looked around for something of immediate value, and something nearby. I only had a couple of seconds to get in and get out. My eyes settled on a bread rack, and I grabbed armfuls of bread before running back out of the store. I heard other kids screaming, but that didn't really matter. We came into this plan knowing there could be casualties. We were hoping that anyone who got caught would be thrown in a prison. They were required to feed people there.

I ran five blocks down and three to the left, waiting anxiously for the other kids to show up in the meeting point. I needed to know how many kids I had left, and what type of goods we had captured. Anthra and Shaft were the first to walk into the area, and little by little the other kids wandered in.

"Head count. Who all's left?" I asked, already making a mental note of who was there.

"Dust."

"Smudge."

"Soot."

"Kole."

"Kell."

"Anthra!"

"Shaft."

"Appalachia, obviously."

"Waste of breath - I mean, Nite."

"Whoa. All of us made it out? Fancy that," I said, honestly surprised. What were the odds? That was why I had gone in last. _Last one in's the first one out._

"We're squirmy!" Dust replied.

"Let's look at the goods!'


	5. Sick Twist of Events

**Vispasian Ginger (President)**

It was time. Lumen had been discovered by the people, by the Districts, and by the entire council. I had let that happen. I didn't care. What could the council possibly do to the President? What harm could they possibly cause to the supreme dictator of the country? I had been flippant. I had let my guard down. And now I was here, sitting in a room with Lumen with a gun pointed at my head. Draco Stilleto, the man I trusted more than anyone else, was holding it, surrounded by various people I had a misconception about - thinking that they were my friends.

"Vispasian, if you step down right now, I won't kill you," Draco said. I considered my situation, then nodded. Losing some power was better than death.

"As long as you promise not to Avox me," I said. Draco seemed to find it amusing that I was making a demand, but I didn't care. He was not the only one that held power in the country.

"You're hardly in a position to be making demands."

"I can always find a way to kill myself."

Draco thought about what I said, then nodded. "I'm President now, and you will live in One. You're too old to get Reaped. Congratulations," he said to me. I tried to walk out of the room, but Draco had me sit down, and I did as I was told. He sent Lumen to sit beside me.

Lumen looked less scared than I was. I assumed that was because he had stared death down and won against it plenty of times, while this was my first time almost getting killed. He put his hand on my knee and whispered that everything would be all right. I doubted that. More likely than not, Draco would kill me one day when I wasn't expecting it. My life was considerably shortened, even if it wasn't over just yet.

"People of the Capitol. Our old President's inferiors. My friends. Today marks the day of a new era. There are many things that will be discussed today. How will power be distributed now? What laws will be changed? Weakened? Strengthened? Abolished entirely? We have all the time in the world before news of this gets out, since this was to be a private meeting. No reporters knew how long it would take. That means we have all the time in the world to discuss everything of importance, and get it completely and thoroughly solved, before continuing on with our country as we will soon know it. First, I would like to discuss what we will do with any rebellions this might cause," Draco said. I was amazed at how long he spoke without needing to take a breath. He had never been one to make speeches around me.

"Just kill everyone. If Ginger leads a rebellion, kill her the worst," Cordelia said. Draco nodded, and I took the hint. That was a message to me as well as a plan.

"And if the Peacekeepers rebel? If suddenly you're out of firepower, just like I am?" I asked, ignoring the fact that I could still be shot at any time. Draco glared at me, then spoke.

"Many of us know how to engineer mutants. Mutts. We know where weapons are, and we know how to use them. We know how to make terrains. We're practically gods. If the Peacekeepers turn, we will find another plan. Will that work for everyone in the room?" Draco asked. It was a rhetorical question. As the President, if he decided it worked, it worked. Other people could put their heads down and listen.

"Yes!" the crowd chanted out.

"Good. Our next order of business is the Games. We all know the Games to be a stressful time. They're likely to start a rebellion. We all have to sit around and choreograph them, while everyone else in the Capitol sits around and enjoys them. They're horrible to create and horrible to work with. That being said, I say we abolish the Games once and for all! The Districts will be pleased, and anyone who disagrees in the Capitol can die!" Draco's voice rose slightly as he spoke, and I could see everyone in the room getting excited. My entire life was falling apart in front of my eyes, and I was considering getting Draco to shoot me.

"Let's end the Games! Let's end this madness! We don't need stress! We don't need mania! The Capitol will live on its own. And, most importantly, _Miss Ginger_ ," Draco said, venom dripping from his words. He stopped for a second, causing a dramatic pause, and I rolled my eyes. I had to try and seem nonchalant. "Most importantly, April fools!"

* * *

 **What can I say? I'm a cruel person.**


	6. District Six Reapings

**Omri Rakesh (18) D6M**

 _Hm. Today's the Reaping. Better get up early._ I rolled out of my bed as soon as the thought crossed my mind, rather than lying there and basking in the pleasure of being hardly awake for a couple of minutes. Normally I had plenty of time to waste a couple of minutes before I got up, but on Reapings, I always made sure to be up with the sun. Mom and Dad were high-strung as it was, and I had to try and make a hard day easier on my family.

I stood in front of my window for a few seconds, trying to make sure my appearance was acceptable. There was no point in going downstairs with a semi-done look just to have my mom make me do it all over again. I made sure there was almost no dirt on my dark skin, and I made sure my brown hair wasn't too ruffled. My mother always made such a big fuss about my hair. I didn't think it was too big of a deal. Nobody was looking at hair on a normal day, much less a Reaping day. Still, if it made her happy, and if it was that simple, I could do it.

Finally, I deemed myself acceptable. I went downstairs and started making breakfast. _Today's a Reaping. Mom won't mind if you use eggs,_ I thought to myself, trying to remember what I had made last year. The family had liked that. I made one egg for each person, because we only had six, and there were five of us. I fried them the way I remembered us liking them, leaving them so that you could crack the yolk open with a fork. Then I buttered some bread and put it in the oven, making it the way that my brother and sister liked it best. I preferred crunchier toast, but I wasn't the one that needed cheering up.

While the eggs were cooking, I started setting the table. Our plates were all cracked, but I chose the least cracked ones. I was stopped three plates in to flip the eggs, and then I could finish setting out the dishes. My mother got up just as I finished setting the table, and she smiled at me.

"You should be asleep. I was going to make breakfast today," Mother said to me, but I knew her heart wasn't in it. She was still drowsy, and she had slept longer than I had.

" _You_ just got back from an extra shift at the junkyard. I only had one yesterday. Fair is fair," I said, leading Mom to her place at the table. I set an egg on her plate and gave her one of the five pieces of toast I had made. Then I walked off a couple of feet, to not spook my mother, and yelled, "Breakfast is ready!"

Soon the calmness of the morning would be gone.

* * *

 **Althea Fender (16) D6F**

"These flowers are particularly beautiful during the summer. You see, during winter, you need roses. Those clash with the snow for an exciting look. But during the summer, everything's so pretty that you don't need to clash! I tell everyone they should get sunflowers. They're happy, and they actually mesh nicely with the rest of the world," I said to the customer I was helping. She was trying to find a bouquet to brighten up her room, and sunflowers would definitely do that. Sunflowers and daisies were the happiest of flowers.

"Oh, thank you. I think I will take these after all. Can you ring me up, young lady?" the woman I was serving asked. I grinned at took the flowers from her. Mrs. Citroen was a regular, so I knew how to match flowers to her mood pretty well.

"Great choice! Here you go, and here's your change," I said, handing the elderly woman her flowers. She smiled.

"Such nice young people they have working here. More children should be like you." I knew Mrs. Citroen was just saying that because she thought anyone who smiled was a nice young person, but I still appreciated the compliment. I didn't have time to reply before she was out of the store.

"Hey, Dad?" I asked, noticing that all of the customers were out of the store. "The Reaping's today. You know what always brightens my mood a little?" I didn't have to explain any further. My dad knew what I meant.

"You want me to tell you about your mother again? I'm never going to get to stop telling the story, am I?" Dad replied. I laughed.

"Not as long as I'm around!"

"Let's see... Your mother was a beautiful woman. Second most beautiful in the District, actually. You're the first. She was the most kind and caring woman I ever met. She could brighten up an entire room just by smiling. The problem was, she got bored pretty easily. She couldn't be tied down to one place or one man. So she left. She left me with a wonderful goodbye present, though. One that won't leave for quite a while." My dad hugged me while he spoke, and I hugged him back, squeezing him tightly.

"Why do you say that so nicely? She just left," I said. I didn't have anything against my mother for leaving us. I never really knew the woman, so to the best of my knowledge, she might have been insane or something. My dad did, though. I could see in his eyes how much he missed her, and how much he loved telling me that story. That was one of the reasons I asked about it so often. That meant he should have hated her for leaving, and he could have insulted her, but he never did.

"Because it's the truth. I don't know why she left, but she's still a wonderful woman. You got that from her."

"I got that from you."

* * *

 **Two notes! First of all, about the April fools chapter: That whole thing was a joke. Ginger's in command, Draco is her best friend. It was confusing, and it's best to clear things up**

 **Second note: All of you should go to MR. PANEM's Games, BLOOD AND WATER. He seems pretty new, and I have skin in the Game, so go submit.**


	7. District Four Reapings

**Swift Counter (18) D4M**

 _Today's a lovely day for a swim._ Every day is a lovely day for a swim, rain or shine, heat or cold, but it really was a particularly good day for swimming. The sun was shining, but the weather wasn't sweltering. There were almost no clouds in the sky. It was a great time to go burn off some steam and get a good workout in, even though most people in Four hardly considered swimming a workout. Workouts were lifting weights or sparring, not goofing off in the water. The effort put into staying afloat was commonly overlooked.

I walked into the water, getting to the point where I could jump up ad dive in, and dove. The water was pretty clear, so I opened my eyes and breathed out, letting myself slowly sink to the bottom. I could only stay there for a couple seconds, but I basked in each one. I got to look up through the water, staring at life from a whole new perspective. The sun made patterns play in the water, and I watched them flicker across my vision until my lungs were screaming for air and I was forced to resurface.

When I hit the surface, I noticed my girlfriend, Audrey, walking onto the beach. She was looking for something, and I knew it was me. She knew which swimming spot was my favorite, and she was walking over to my favorite entry point. I swam over to her, quickly hitting the shore.

"Hello there, lovely lady. What's someone like you doing all alone?" I said, walking up to her. She laughed.

"I'm looking for my boyfriend! Have you seen him anywhere?"

"No! Someone like you must have a completely amazing boyfriend, though."

"Oh, I do. He's amazing, and sweet, and charming," Audrey said, hugging me. I was all wet, so she got wet too, but neither of us minded. Four was for fishes.

"I hear he's a great dancer, too," I said, pulling Audrey into proper waltz position. It was a good way to dry off, basking in the sun but still moving. Audrey let me lead, and I pulled her into a series of spins. Those were her favorite.

After a couple minutes, Audrey stopped me. "I came looking for you because we need to go home. I'm trying to find something at your house," she said, not giving me a hint of what was there. I shrugged and walked with her.

It took us about an hour to reach my house. We walked slowly, and it was a decent distance. When we did, I noticed that all the lights were off, and the door was locked. _Odd. Mom should be home. And everyone else._ I pulled my key out of my pocket and unlocked the door, walking in ahead of Audrey. If something was off, I wanted to be the one that got hurt.

"Surprise! Congratulations!" a chorus of voices yelled out. I jumped, ready for a fight, before realizing that this was a good thing. All of my friends and family members had been hiding behind furniture, and they jumped out to congratulate me. We had a cake, and the house was decorated. _All this in a couple hours? I wasn't gone for that long._

Audrey snapped me out of my thoughts with a kiss. "Congratulations, my hunka hunka burning love."

* * *

 **Rialta Vernell (18) D4F**

I sat in the graveyard, completely calmly. It was raining heavily, the wind was blowing, and the ground was covered in mist. It was the perfect day to find yourself haunted after taking a wrong turn, followed home by a zombie or a demon. Most people would have avoided a graveyard on a day like ours, but I had no intentions of doing so. I had been waiting for a day where everything seemed haunted. There was a chance it would hold just the opportunity I needed.

 _Halona Remus,_ the tombstone I was sitting at read. She was last year's Four female, just like I would be soon. I wanted to get a couple more bits of knowledge from her than I already had, but it wasn't going well. All I was doing was staring at a rock, hoping for some piece of motion or some sign that the girl was still around. I wanted to know if she had just blipped from existence entirely, or if she was haunting the world, or if she was in a heaven or hell. She wasn't telling me. My research said that she was in some form of other world, since the Ouija boards had said that, but she was not proving anything.

 _Possibly nothing. Doesn't make sense. Should be around. Not nice? Seemed cool. No signs. No ability?_ I jotted notes down into my notebook in fragments. I circled the last note a couple of times, trying to remind myself to look over that again later. Maybe the dead were still around, but they just couldn't show us. Or they couldn't show us well. That would explain why we sometimes felt like we were being watched when nothing was there, and why we could sense the dead sometimes. Why entire rooms hushed when they were mentioned.

 _Soon that'll be you._ I was going to be dead soon, and I wanted to know exactly what was coming. Even if I didn't die in the Games, it was coming sometime. Even if I was immortal, I would have wanted to know. Curiosity is a terrible thing, and I wanted mine quenched. I had just chosen one of the worst mysteries in the world to be curious about. No one knew the answer, maybe not even the dead. Maybe people did just blip away. The thought of that shook me, but I wasn't sure if it shook me more than staying around after I died. Would I rather be eternally lurking, or would I rather just be gone?

A strong gust of wind stopped me from answering that question. I was wearing one of my favorite hats, and the wind stole it. Naturally, I took off after my hat, not wanting to lose one of my best possessions. I sprinted, trying to keep my steps quiet despite my hurry. Any situation was a chance to keep the final solution of what death was a little bit father away. Losing a hat was good enough reason for me to need to go quickly, but silence was a trait that was difficult to find a motive to train. I wouldn't lose the hat if my footsteps were loud. _Still, you're gonna need it._


	8. District Three Reapings

**Note: Eris was originally submitted as a Career. The submitter was nice enough to move her, so she'll retain some Career stuff, but please don't hate her because of that.**

* * *

 **Eris Harmon (16) D3F**

"None of you have to be worried about getting Reaped. I'm going to volunteer the second it's allowed. I'm out of this District," I said to the girls that were surrounding me. Many of them were fidgeting, either with an article of clothing, or just by chewing their fingers. I wasn't going to do anything dumb like that. Chewed fingers or fingernails could get infected, which would be quite the problem in the Games. I couldn't have anything slowing me down, or stopping me from getting into the hunt.

"Yeah, right. You're such a big talker. You're gonna wimp out of it," Lexi said to me. I glared at her.

"I'm a wimp? At least I have the grit to consider volunteering. At least I have the grit to prep for it, physically and mentally. Every tribute that I hunt, I'll be thinking of you," I spat at the taller girl. She clearly didn't believe me, but I decided that didn't matter. I had everything I needed.

I knew I really was prepared, in ways many Careers weren't. I was pretty thin, but that was because I deliberately hadn't eaten in a while. I had to be used to hunger if I was going to go into the Games. My arms hurt while I was swinging them, reminding me of the cuts along them. I had to be used to pain if I was going to go into the Games. I hadn't cut myself in a while, since I didn't want anything getting infected during the Games, but the old cuts were still healing, and they were taking their time.

Lazuli walked onto the stage, her head held high, even though she was only wearing wires. The other girls around me laughed, and even I, the crazy hunter girl, couldn't stop myself from laughing. Lazuli glared at everyone while she droned through the speech and video, which nobody paid any attention to, and then pulled a name out of a bowl. She didn't announce which gender she was doing first, but I assumed it was the girls.

"Static El!" Lazuli called, confirming that it was girls. One kid from the sixteen-year-old section tried to walk out, glancing at me while she walked. I put my arm out to stop her.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I called out, glaring at Lexi while I went. She thought I would chicken out, but I wasn't that type of person. My father nodded from his place outside the square, and I nodded back at him.

"And what's your name, young lady?" Lazuli asked.

"I'm Eris Harmon, Three's next Victor." It was a cheesy line, but I couldn't stop myself from saying it.

"Our male tribute will be Link Witijenn!"

"I volunteer as tribute!" a young voice shouted, only seconds before the other boy made it to the stage. I stared at the kid in amazement. He was thinner than I was, almost a foot shorter than I was, and pale as a ghost. "I'm Excel Witijenn." Lazuli raised our hands, like she was supposed to, and then left the stage. The entire time we were on there, my heart was racing, and Excel was muttering something about the Capitol not being normal. I could understand that. The kid wasn't normal either.

* * *

 **Excel Witijenn (13) D3M**

My parents were kind enough to prepare breakfast for me every day. I knew they hardly had time for that, but I didn't know how to say that. I didn't want to upset them, and I didn't want to seem ungrateful. I also really didn't want them to be mad at me, since I never knew what to do when that happened. So, every day I went downstairs to the smell of an egg cooking, sunny-side up, and a glass of orange juice. We were neither super rich nor super poor, so we could afford that and not much else. My siblings complained about always having the same breakfast, but I loved it.

"All right! What does everyone have planned for today?" my mom, Ada asked as her children filed in to the table. I was the last one to sit down, and I didn't mind that. I slipped into my chair mostly unnoticed while the bigger, louder siblings sat down.

"I have a big math test coming up! It's, like, the biggest one other than finals. Today's going to be a study day, so I shouldn't have any homework," Sony, my older sister, said. She was smiling brightly, and I smiled for her. It was good to know she was happy.

"That's good! Maybe you'll be able to help Excel with his homework, then. He could always use the help," Ada said, looking down at me while cutting her food. I frowned and went back to playing with my egg. I moved it around the plate with my fork, not really hungry but urging myself to eat.

"Or I could go out with friends. It's a lot more exciting," Sony said, looking down at her plate. I wasn't really sure why she said that. It seemed rude, but she seemed to be upset because of it. I could understand why she didn't want to help me, though. I was a slow learner when it came to most things, like science, or history. Really, I was a slow learner in anything that I didn't think mattered, which was everything but math in Three.

"Sony, you can help your brother. He clearly needs it," Ada said, her voice raising a little bit. I didn't like that. It wasn't her normal tone, and it didn't make any sense. I quickly finished my egg, unwilling to leave it when I normally didn't leave any food behind, and then ran upstairs, trying to be quiet. If I started saying formulas to myself, I would just get teased even more.

Once I was upstairs, I went into my room and locked the door. Neither of my siblings would check on me, I knew, but it still felt safer to have the door locked. I found a corner in my room and sat there, trying to figure everything out. Mom had to be raising her voice for a reason, but why pressure Sony into helping me? Sony was the favorite kid. I was the worthless one. It was so out of her character. I didn't get that. People were supposed to be one way, then Mom just up and worked another.

* * *

 **Note: Both of these are volunteers, obviously. Eris is because she was supposed to be a Career, and Excel's will get explained later (for now, I'm scheduling it into train rides), so don't hate them for that. Find good reasons to hate people.**

 **Second note: Brownie points to whoever submits a seventeen-year-old from Three named Static El next year :P**


	9. District Ten Reapings

**Derwin Ciervo (17) D10M**

 _Eight years ago_

I looked over at Eve, who looked back at me. We were staring at a whole field of sheep. Nothing but sheep could be seen for quite a distance, their white fluff contrasting sharply with the green surrounding us otherwise. Nobody could possibly count this many sheep. It would take days, and a lot more paychecks than most farmers from Ten could afford. We didn't know how many sheep these rich people owned. The Capitol probably didn't know how many sheep these rich people owned, even though we were supposed to pay taxes every year on our sheep.

Eve nodded, so slightly I wasn't sure if I had really seen it. I sprinted down the hill, into the herd we were staring at, and started scouting. Some of the sheep moved away from me, but most ignored me. There was little enough motion that I could look around for a smaller sheep, one that wasn't in the main pack. I kept scanning and scanning until I found a small one, almost perfectly white, that I thought Eve would love. I motioned wildly, and Eve nodded again, this time more noticeably. She ran in the opposite direction that I was motioning, and I ran toward it.

A field hand was coming toward me. We had expected that and planned for that, which was why I deliberately motioned the wrong way. I ran off, holding my hands up, while he chased me away from the herd. I hadn't taken anything. I wasn't interested in taking anything. That was Eve's job, not mine. I was one great scout, and one wonderful diversion.

Eve ran off into the field, and I kept leading the field hand away from her until I was almost to town, and he couldn't leave the herd any longer. I sat in the square and waited for Eve. She had to lead me home. I was only nine, so I didn't know my way around yet. Suddenly, I saw a flurry of motion. Eve was sprinting toward me, a lamb in her arms.

"We got it! One extremely scared lamb, coming right up," Eve said to me, handing the lamb off. I understood that she was tired, but I still struggled to hold the lamb. It struggled against being held.

"Why did you want the lamb again?" I asked my older sister. I would follow wherever she led, but I was curious.

"We need a pet. You need a pet. And there's no way they'll miss this lamb. I hear people don't even count lambs until they're an adult, because so many die," Eve said, leading the way to our house. I nodded. Eve was my source for a lot of information, and she probably knew what she was saying.

"How are we gonna keep Mom and Dad from noticing?" I asked, suddenly worried. What if they didn't approve of our new pet?

"We'll just tell them we picked it up outside of town. We don't know who owns it, and there's no way to find the owner," Eve said. I admired her word choice. She didn't lie. She just got close to it. I could never speak that well.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

 _A while ago_

"Now, Nyra, today we're going to learn about something. Something you can't ever tell anyone about. It's extremely personal," my mom was saying to me. I nodded, eagerly waiting for her to talk to me. If something was "extremely personal," it meant that something was exciting, and something I wanted to know about. "Can you promise that you won't tell anyone?"

I considered before nodding again, then shook my head. "I might tell people, but I didn't hear it from you." I used our phrase, the one I always used. If I was asked where I got this information, I just figured it out from somewhere. My mother definitely didn't tell me.

"I suppose that will work. We're going to be learning about America. It used to be called Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave. It was a hundred times better than Panem - no, maybe even better than that. And I'm hoping that it'll get re-established. Panem can only last so long. After all, it's a terrible land, nothing like the America that used to be.

"In America, people were rarely low on food. The Hunger Games didn't exist. People elected rulers. I have whole books about it hidden in the backyard. People also didn't have to hide books. Oh, gosh, lesson over. I'll teach you again another time," my mother had said to me. She was cut short from her lesson by someone knocking on the door. I tried not to grin, not wanting to give away our little secret.

* * *

 _Less of a while ago_

My mom had held true to her word. Every Thursday when we were free, and ever Wednesday or Friday when we had to reschedule, I had another lesson about America. I could recite the entire Preamble with ease. I knew the entire Bill of Rights, and a lot of the other Amendments. I knew every President that history would speak about, and I had my own copy of _Fahrenheit 451._ That one wasn't directly related to America, but it was symbolic. It was about burnt books.

And now, I was going to re-establish it. "Hey, Kelsie, you know America? That one country I keep talking about? I think we should try to bring it back," I said to Kelsie, my best friend. She gasped and got up, leaving the table. My entire school had a taboo on America, which made sense, but I wasn't going to be done.

"Hey Arthur, you know America? I'm going to bring it back, but I need more people," I said to Arthur. Lots of people had shot me down already, and I hardly spoke to Arthur, but I figured it was worth a try. He left me like the others, proving me wrong.

I saw a teacher walking toward me, trailed by Max, one of the other kids I had asked. She seemed worried about me.

"Nyra, you do understand that you can't just start a rebellion?" my teacher asked, faking a giggle at the "ridiculousness" of it all. I glared at her.

"Why not? Down with Panem! Vive la resistance!" I said, raising my voice to a shout. The teacher grabbed my wrist.

"Nyra, you need to stop right now. Yes, you're a kid, but you won't be for long, and one day this will get you shot. _Shut up._ " The intensity in my teacher's words made me stop and think for a second. For just that second, I was a broken child of Panem. But I wouldn't be a child for long, and one day, my words would spark a change.


	10. District Two Reapings

**Bridgette Striker (17) D2F**  
Would Bridgette Striker and Edric Lyons please report to the head office of the Academy?" a loudspeaker called out, letting all of the trainees in the Academy know who the selected volunteers were. Anything could have been coming over the speaker, but any kid with a brain knew what was going on. There weren't many reasons that a male and female who didn't know each other would get called into the office.

A pit formed in my stomach while I walked to the office. It _had to be an announcement that I was the chosen volunteer. Nothing else made any sense. Still, I couldn't help but worry that maybe it was something else. Perhaps we were getting expelled. Maybe our parents had died in some freak accident. I didn't know if Edric had parents, but I did, and I wanted to keep them. My conscious thoughts screamed that I was being illogical, but that didn't mean my subconscious would agree._

"Congratulations to the both of you! You have excelled in your classes more than any other children this year, and you are this year's chosen volunteers!" the head trainer, Granite Vesuvius, said to us. She was smiling, but she didn't actually seem very happy. I guessed that she had been told that to a lot of people that hadn't come home, like Wolf and Valerie.

"Thank you, ma'am," I said.

"Thank you, ma'am," Edric said. Granite nodded, and we both walked out of the room./p

The pit didn't leave my stomach when I walked out of the room. I tried to make myself play it cool. Maybe I had eaten something out of the ordinary. The milk I had for breakfast could have been rotten. Perhaps I had bruised earlier and just hadn't noticed it. Or maybe I was getting cold feet about volunteering. That thought was too much to bear. Surely every volunteer had their doubts about it? Last minute, everybody had to reconsider. Even Wolf, who had led the Pack last year, must have questioned himself.

 _For no good reason._ I thought that almost absent-mindedly, and it was almost a passing thought. I almost didn't notice it, or really consider it. They all doubted volunteering for no good reason. There was no way I could really be good enough to win the Games. So many people won by freak accident. So man people lost by freak accident. So many Careers failed because they thought they were good enough, but they weren't. If I thought I wasn't good enough, could I possibly be?

* * *

 **Edric Lyons (18) D2M**  
I walked into my dad's room, knowing I needed to have one last conversation with him before I went into the Games. My dad was the most important person in my life. He had raised me to be the man I was, even though my uncle tried to take that away from me. He had brought me through this terrible world until I was old enough to walk on my own two feet and make my own decisions, even if I turned to him for guidance. I was using his guidance one last time.

Like always, my dad was asleep in his bed. He had been that way for a long time, what must have been years. I walked into the room knowing that I would be having a one-sided conversation, but knowing that I needed to see my dad while I said all that I said.

"Hey, Dad. What's up? Not much with you, I guess. I just got chosen to be the volunteer, which is pretty cool. I get to bring pride to our District! Via blood. It's bizarre. You know what the Hunger Games are. Anyways, I'm pretty excited. I really need to talk to you. I guess I hoped you would wake up, but that's not going to happen anytime soon," I said, more to myself than really to my dad.

"All right, Dad. Here's what I'm here for. I know you wouldn't want me killing people. That's going to hurt you. I'm supposed to be this perfect, gentlemanly leader, and I'm volunteering to kill people. It's not exactly murder. Once I go in, it's self-defense. But still, I know you wouldn't necessarily want me going in. Just let me plead my case, okay?

"How much longer will they keep you here? How much longer will the hospital be willing to let you take up space? If I'm a Victor, they have to let you stay. Heck, I might even be able to find some cool Capitol medicine to make you wake up. So, if I win, don't hate me for this. _Please._ It's a weird route to take, but I don't see any other ways to bring you back. If I have to lose a life to save one, is that really murder? It's just a trade-off, right?" I found myself kneeling beside my dad's bed while I was talking to him. I hadn't planned on being that pitiful, but it made sense. I was crying at my own father's feet, begging forgiveness for what I hadn't even done.

* * *

 **Here we have two Careers! A low-key late chapter, but such is life.**


	11. District Eleven Reapings

**Oi mates. Sorry for the late chapter. I went to a baseball game and was very tired.**

* * *

 **Saige Lark (15) D11F**

"What day is it today?" Regano asked me. She was tossing a small ball I knew she had stolen at a wall. I didn't know who in the jail had a bouncy ball, other than Regano.

I looked at her in confusion. She never asked me that question. I never knew the answer. "What do you mean? I never know," I said, running my hands through my hair. I needed to do something with my hands, or I would be totally lost, and I just might freak out.

"Oh. Yeah. I guess that slipped my mind. There's a lot of hubbub around, is all. Something big must be happening," Regano said, staring out of our cell. I closed my eyes tightly, scrunching up my face in annoyance, then looked out of the cell with her. Though I didn't like Regano, any cellmate was better than none, which was what I was normally left with.

"There is," I said, completely surprised to see so many juveniles out of their cells. Everyone that I knew, or bothered to be aware of, was standing outside of their cell. A Peacekeeper was even walking over to my cell, and she opened the door. That was unusual. Usually I got fed through the door, due to the last time I had spontaneously decided to try to strangle a Peacekeeper. This one was standing away from me and holding a gun, so I wouldn't attack.

"You're coming with us. The Reapings are today. Enjoy your time outside," the Peacekeeper barked at us. Regano grinned. She was here on possible murder, so she was almost never let outside.

"It's been a whole year," I whispered to Regano. That didn't feel right. I could never keep track of time. I couldn't keep track of many things. Time. People. Food. Logic. Schedules. When I had last showered, or eaten.

"And now someone gets to die," she whispered back.

"Just like my sister," I said, absentmindedly. Regano gasped. I didn't talk about my sister very often. I didn't remember her very often. Add that to the list I couldn't keep track of: Family. My sister was why I was in jail. Really, it was the absence of her. I was the one that killed her, so I was the one in jail.

"Our female tribute will be Saige Lark!" our escort cried out. _Oooh, an adventure!_ was the first thing to run through my mind. The Games would be a big adventure, especially to someone who had been in jail for years. When I felt Peacekeepers grabbing onto me, I realized it wasn't just any adventure.

 _Got to get out this isn't okay need to let go._ I didn't want to go into the Games, even if they were an adventure. I never left the District. Leaving the penitentiary was enough adventure for one day. I needed to be back in the safety of my cell. Nothing to freak me out, nothing to make me kill again, nothing to make more people end up like my sister, my sister, the corpse in the field.

* * *

 **Robin "Mute" Ceviro (18) D11M**

 _Did you clean the bathroom? You definitely cleaned the bathroom. Did you clean the living room? You definitely cleaned the living room. Did you vacuum? Yeah. Totally. Probably. Guess I'll have to go vacuum again._ Paul was slowly walking toward the house I had just been cleaning, and I knew how well he would want everything to have been cleaned. Clean everything three times, oughta be able to see a reflection in there, don't miss a speck or he'll get mad and you never ever want him mad.

I turned on the vacuum, which I considered a luxury. Even though I wouldn't have to vacuum if we didn't own it, I knew I would be cleaning manually if we didn't, which would take even longer. Paul walked in as I started my rounds, and I realized that it was my second time, at least, vacuuming that day. I could still see the lines the vacuum left in the carpet, and the ground was almost completely clean. The only dirt that was there had probably dropped off of me after I had been cleaning.

"You didn't do the dishes?" Paul asked me, glancing at the counter. I looked over and, sure enough, it was covered with dishes. I felt myself begin to sink.

 _Knew you had forgotten something. Wasn't the vacuum, it was dishes, dishes, dishes, forgot to do the dishes._ I put my hands up and took two steps away from Paul, completely forgetting the vacuum. When I forgot to do one of my many chores, Paul got mad. When Paul got mad, he hurt me. And ever since he had decided it was a wonderful idea to ruin my tongue, I wasn't even able to beg for mercy when he decided that it was prime time to start tearing me apart.

"I can't believe you would forget something like that. I thought I had trained you better than that. I guess you still have to learn," Paul continued, grabbing onto my hair. I generally kept it short, because I knew he liked to grab onto the black mess on top of my head, but I had accidentally left it long enough for him to pull me around with it. He pulled me down with it, straight onto his patiently waiting knee.

I whimpered. I couldn't plead with him vocally, but I sure could make a mess out of myself. I hoped that if I made myself look pitiful enough, he would decide that I hadn't deliberately done anything wrong. I really hadn't. The second Paul let go of me, I tried to skitter over to the counter. I was hardly willing to stand up and risk offending him, but I had to clean the dishes. I kept my head down and began to start cleaning, Paul breathing down my neck the entire time. It was scary, but it was better than being beat.

* * *

 **Okay so this chapter is obviously a LITTLE weird, but it's because neither of these tributes are exactly stable. Don't boycott me.**


	12. District Nine Reapings

**Lorenk Pritchett (16) D9M**

The Reapings were dumb. The Games were dumb. The idea that anybody could die at any time was dumb. I wasn't supposed to think that way, but that didn't mean I wouldn't. The law could control actions, and I would follow it. I didn't need to get myself whipped. The law, however, could not control thoughts. Nobody could prove that I didn't like the Games, even if I spoke about it. I could deny anything I wanted to, and word against word was hard to prove.

A video played, and I ignored it. It seemed that everybody was ignoring it. I was casually watching the other boys in my section, and the ones in other sections. Some were chewing their nails or fingers. Some seemed coolly confident. The younger ones were crying, and the older ones were maturely nervous. I wasn't particularly nervous. The odds of me getting Reaped were low, and I actually thought I could stand a chance if I was Reaped. Only the hard win the Games, and I could easily make myself hard if I was in a life-or-death situation. It was an often overlooked fact.

When the video ended, I stared at our escort. She Reaped the girl before me, and I didn't make note of the name. It was me, so I didn't care. Then she Reaped the boy. All of the boys hushed, like the girls had hushed while she had been Reaping them. She slowly unfolded the slip, and she had the audacity to call out my name.

"What the #*! ? You can't just $ )(# do #(*) things like that!" I yelled, walking up to the stage. Resistance would be futile, but I could definitely make my mark on the District. Our escort didn't hold her mic to me, refusing to offer a chance for me to speak. She also didn't call for volunteers. I glared at her. I knew nobody would volunteer for me, but that was awfully rude of her.

My District partner stared at me, and I suddenly wished I knew her name. It would be hard to ask, and an ally could be nice. She seemed stunned at how loud I was. I didn't care. Quiet people didn't win Games. People who took life in stride and burned down the entire Arena did.

I held my partner's hand tightly when we were forced to shake. I didn't want her to think I was some wuss. I most definitely was not a wuss. I held our hands high and proud while the District muttered halfhearted cheers. They were just happy that they weren't the Reaped ones. They had no idea that Nine was about to get it's next Victor. _Reap me. Think I'm gonna die? You got another think coming._

* * *

 **Tori Harris (18) D9F**

"Tori, will you go grab me a piece of paper?" Mara asked me. Her voice was calm, and she seemed completely cheery, which was surprising, for a Monday.

"I don't think we need any more. We've got, like, two feet here. Can I help with the actual experiment instead?" I asked, trying to seem polite. I was mildly annoyed at how I was being overrun, and how only Mara was bothering to fix it, but I didn't want to scare off one of my only friends in the District.

"Just go get some paper, Tori. It's just across the classroom. Don't be so lazy," Farro said, looking up from her beakers. _She_ was pouring acid onto rocks to see how different ones would dissolve. It could be hard to find good schooling in Nine, especially at my age, but this science project was great. We got to burn things and melt things, which everybody is interested in, and it kept us on our toes at all times. I couldn't be bored or sad if acid was being thrown at my face.

"No! I'm not getting you a dumb piece of paper. Use some of the three feet we have here," I snapped back. Farro was not someone I cared about scaring off. She could get her nose out of my business and stop hogging all of the fun.

"You're just being lazy. Maybe if you were worthwhile, we would let you do important things, Tori," Quinn said. I shrugged off the insult. It wasn't the first one I had heard. It was easy to call someone who already doubted themselves lazy. Instead of gracing my jerkwad friends with a response, I walked off, going to the only bathroom in the small school.

I considered cutting myself, but only in passing. I had heard it could do great things for your mind, force you to calm down and forget about life for a while, but I didn't. My one piece of pride was that in all of my bad thoughts I had never let any form of schooling get to me enough to make me cut, and I wasn't about to break that over a petty dispute over paper. Instead, I sat in the bathroom and cried, trying to keep myself so upset that calm thoughts couldn't make me break down even more.

* * *

 **Sorry for the late review, and sorry for the short chapter. I had to force most of these words out, because I've been so out of life lately. I'll try and make this deficiency up to these characters somehow with something nice.**


	13. District Eight Reapings

**Amelia "Amy" Songbird (14) D8F**

Mother sat on my bed and motioned for me to sit on a stool so she could comb my hair. I sat beside her, completely willingly, even though I was a young lady. If I asked, she would let me brush my own hair, but I knew how much it meant for her to brush her little girl's hair. I wasn't going to take that away from her, even if she took longer than I might, and she often pulled a bit harder than I would have liked. My long, blonde hair was pretty fragile.

"How would you like your hair done today? It's a special occasion," Mother said, brushing my hair vigorously. It could take a couple of seconds to get out the hardest snarls, and then she would slowly work on the smaller knots. I looked forward to that. As it was, I could see my hair compiling in the brush. There are no knots if there is no hair.

"Could we do another fancy braid?" I asked, forgetting what the occasion was for a moment. Mother kept calmly brushing and smoothing my hair, but I knew she had nodded to my question. She loved braiding my hair, and I actually did like the feeling of her braiding it. She was so much more gentle and calm than she sometimes was when she braided. Work could stress her out, but braiding always calmed her down again.

I smiled to myself when I figured out what the event was. My best dress was out, and I was getting my hair done. Mother's concealer was out, just in case I wanted some. I didn't. My best pair of shoes was out, and my jewelry was all displayed nicely. Mother must have done that over the night. If things were that fancy, it was the Reaping. Mother always worried about me during days like this one, though I could never put my finger on why. Some kids left the District, and normally, they didn't come back. I thought going to the Capitol for a while would be a good thing.

"Mother? Would it be all right if I didn't wear my nicest dress today?" I asked quietly. Mother would assume it was just that the dress was uncomfortable, and I sensed her nodding behind me. Her braiding faltered while she nodded. Really, I knew my friends didn't like the dress. None of them seemed to have as many outfits as I did, and their shoes weren't as nice. I decided that I could fit in. It wasn't like anything exciting was happening.

* * *

 **Caddis Hibbett (12) D8M**

My grandpa had me sit down across the table from him, where two pieces of fabric were waiting for me. They looked like shirts, but they were flat. I knew what we were going to be doing for the day even before I saw the threat and needles in front of me. We were going to sew shirts together. That was an easy but boring job, normally. However, I knew that my grandfather would make it exciting.

"All right, Caddis. Sorry I couldn't let you start from scratch today. I might be turning in a bit early tonight. However, I said we'd make shirts, so we're making shirts. How was your day?" Grandpa Carl asked me. He had to be addressing my school day, since he knew good and well everything that happened outside of there.

"It was pretty good! I got an A on my math test. It was actually simple stuff this time. My science grade is a C, ever since I got a hundred on an assignment - also a really easy one," I said, happy to tell Carl about my day. He always seemed to actually care. "And during art we got to draw whatever we wanted, as long as we 'incorporated a three-dimensional element,' or made something 3D. I don't know why my teacher uses such big words. Anyways, I drew a pretty forest, with me and you in it. I wanted to draw humans, and you're pretty much my favorite one. What did you draw today?" As much as I loved talking about my day, Grandpa's drawings, paintings, or whatever he did were always great to hear about.

"Ahhh. Let's see, what did I draw today? Well, I didn't get to draw too much today. I cleaned up a bit, and I actually took a short nap." Grandpa cut more fabric while he spoke. "But, when I found the energy, I drew you. It's not done quite yet. It's hard to draw such crazy brown hair! And I drew a stray cat. She's a gorgeous thing. Totally black. I fed her some, and she sat still while I drew her." I hardly heard the last thing Grandpa said. He laughed at his little joke about my hair, but it ended in a cough. He looked really tired.

"It sounds great, Grandpa! I hope I get to see it sometime," I replied, trying not to let my worry show through. I didn't know exactly how much I was stressing Grandpa. He had to take care of me, which couldn't be easy. I started to feel bad, but Grandpa was having none of that.

"Hey. I don't know what got you in a doldrums, but you can't stay there. I can't draw a sad face when I've started a happy one," he said, poking me in the shoulder. I laughed, and decided not to worry. I couldn't betray Grandpa like that. If he wanted me to be happy, I could be happy. I had powered through harder things.

* * *

 **Note: Sorry for the late update (again). I got a worried PM, and I figured I should explain.**

 **I've been feeling out of it lately, as I've said. I'm trying to decide exactly where my mental health is, so my updates are going to be totally whack for a while. This story and A Shot in the Dark are going to be sort of on a hiatus. I'll write if I feel like it, but as long as I'm in a slump, I probably won't. Neither story is officially cancelled as of yet, but it's definitely safe to resubmit characters from those. I'm really sorry, but I don't want to mess up my brain.**

 **So sorry I've been such a crud reviewer and reader. I've hardly been on at all as of late, and it'll stay that way.**


	14. District Five Reapings

**Margherita Leiherr (14) D5F**

 _Ah, well, blessa my soul what's wrong with me? I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree. My friends say I'm acting wild as a bug, I'm in love! I'm all shook up!_

I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds, letting the music in my earbuds flow through me. Every beat, every line was amazing. I couldn't write for the life of me, but I did know a good song when I heard one, and I was listening to one of the best. I knew it by heart, and I could hardly keep myself from singing along. Nobody was really nearby me, so I had nothing to be embarrassed by, but it still felt weird to just sing in public.

Sighing, I opened my eyes and kept walking. I was enjoying a bit of free time from the stresses of school, absentmindedly wandering up and down the streets of my neighborhood. It was dark out, but we lived in a nice part of Five, and I figured nothing bad would happen to me. My parents figured the same thing, or else they wouldn't have allowed me to wander. With my earbuds blasting I was pretty isolated from anything around me, which was absolutely wonderful to me, but which also made me aware of just how dangerous of a situation I was in. If someone came up behind me, I wouldn't hear them until it was too late.

"Hey hottie! Do those legs go all the way up?"

 _That_ I could hear. Some hooligan yelling at me while I was trying to be a civilized person and have a nice walk was pretty hard to ignore, but that was exactly what I was going to do.

"Whoooie! You sure are a find. How about you come over here and I'll give you the time of your life?"

I kept walking, ignoring everything the crazy person was saying to me. I didn't have time for his crud, and I wasn't in the mood to try and chase off some random barbarian.

Suddenly, someone grabbed on to my shoulder and turned me around. He ripped one of my earbuds out of my ear. "What is your problem?" he yelled at my face.

"Halt die Klappe, du Schwanz!" I yelled at him. It was coarser than something my mother would want me to say, but it sure would confuse the guy. If he knew German he would back off, and if he didn't, he would probably leave. Sure enough, he did.

 _Gosh. Aren't any guys not total dirtbags?_ I wondered. _Looks like Mom got the only good guy in the world. Oh well. I can just be an eligible bachelorette for the rest of my life._

* * *

 **Turbo White (15) D5M**

 _Okay. This is simple. You just have to put this... under that wire. And then you weave these together and try to make all the pretty colors match up. Purple goes with... Yellow? Nope, definitely not yellow._ I was having a very hard time remembering how I was supposed to put together the wires in the toy I was making. It was so complex and deliberate. The right colors had to go in the right order, and in the right shape. It was one of the factory's simplest jobs, and still I couldn't quite figure it out.

"Pssst... Connie... How do you do this part again? I forgot what order the wires go in," I whispered to Connie, who was working beside me. She was very good at making these things, so I knew she would be able to help me. For some reason she was always willing to, even though it slowed her down, so I liked that.

"Oh, gosh! Of course I can, Turbo," Connie replied, dropping her work.

"What does Turb need?" Nate asked. He set down his work and scooched over to me.

Amber, who worked across from me, looked up from her work. "Turb needs help? Lemme come over there," she said, coming all the way around the belt. "Oh, that's easy. Lemme get it for you. You just watch."

Little contraptions kept coming past on our conveyor belt, and Amber, Nate, and Connie showed me how to put them together. I watched very intently while they tried to lead me through the whole process, and I tried to memorize everything they said to me. _Purple wires under blue ones. All of the purples should end up next to blues. Blues go next to greens. Greens go next to pinks._

"Do you think you've got it, Turb?" Amber asked me, not looking up from her work. She knew that I would be listening carefully whether or not both of us were working.

"I think I do. Thank you very much for helping me," I replied, watching Amber get back to her place before getting to work on my own stuff. I had to make sure she didn't get in trouble for helping me.

I picked up another toy and wove together the wires. I got it to look nice and went to a new one. I found myself actually remembering how to do the weave pretty well, which was a lovely surprise. Sometimes I forgot how to do things right after I got shown them. _Purple, blue, green, pink,_ I thought to myself, trying very hard not to forget the order. _Oh dear. How exactly does the weave go?_

I peeked over at Connie's work. _Oh, okay. Purple under blue, blue over green. Little diamond things. I can do this._ Connie tilted her work toward me so I could watch more carefully, and I mimicked all of her weaving. That was one of the things in the factory I actually could do. Nate tilted his toy toward me too, so I could see the weave from both angles, and I figured it out.

"Thank you, both of you. I think I've finally figured it out."

* * *

 **Ta-da! I wasn't lying when I said I would continue xD Sorry if this isn't my best work, but I'm glad to have written anything.**


	15. District One Reapings

**Polaris "Aris" Flasher (17) D1M**

"All right, hun, I'm going to need you to stand up a little bit straighter. Can you stretch your neck out a bit more? Perfect, perfect. And you, sir, could you turn to the left a little? Oh, that is just perfection. There we go!" I said to my clients, trying to get a good shot of them. I was supposed to be shooting models, but both of them seemed to have never modeled a day in their life. Neither of them knew anything about angles or lighting, so I had to lead them through every single shot I took.

Luckily, I was known for being good with leading clients. I was laying on the ground, looking up at both models. That made their legs look really long, and any imperfections more or less melted away. Lights were shining on all the right angles, making my female model's cheekbones stick out and the male model's jawline look absolutely chiseled. Despite being less fit than I was, either one of them could easily pass for Careers. They looked fierce. For a sword brand the entire scene didn't make much sense, but it was impeccably what was commissioned.

"All right! I think that's enough frames for now. I'll send those to your contractor - no, I don't keep most of the pictures. I'm just the lowly photographer!" I joked. Thyst, who I finally recognized the female model as, laughed a bit, though her partner, who I guessed to be Jules, just stared at me in confusion. _Pretty but dumb, an employer's dream._

My models left me, and I walked out of the studio. I had done about twelve shoots in the past four hours, and the lights were making me overheat. Those things were powerful. I was hoping to find Marie, a fellow photographer who I knew always took a break around that hour. She was quite the gossip, and I could use a few minutes to let off some steam. As often as I called Thyst and Jules perfect, they had beautifully avoided doing anything right.

"Hello, darling! Fancy meeting you here. This isn't your normal break, is it?" Marie said when she noticed me. She was wearing her signature outfit, an aquamarine dress with matching earrings and a hideously ajar red hat. I hated the outfit, because it looked so imperfect, but I always complimented it when I saw it. A little white lie never hurt anyone.

"No, it's not. I just needed to talk with you! First of all, is your hat less tilted than normal? It looks daring against that dress. Such a statement!" I replied, smiling brightly. I sat down and ordered a hot chocolate, a luxury for me. I liked to save most of my money in case I ever lost my job. Photographers came and went all the time.

"It is! You know I always wear this hat though, you flirt!" Marie knew good and well I wasn't flirting, I hoped, but I did love the way she smiled when she said that. She was one of the only One photographers that was actually pretty.

"Anyways, I just got out of this terrible shoot. The models were like toddlers. I had to lead them every which way - 'Tilt your head up a bit more, hun! You're not supposed to smile in a sword commercial!' - it was death. That's why I really needed this break!"

"Oh, gosh. Models have certainly gone downhill in the recent years. Who was that one really good one, though? Her name was Turpentine, or something? She knew how to pose."

"You must mean Tourmaline! Everyone could learn a thing from her. I should just get a video of her and play it whenever a new model walks in! 'Now this is how you walk, and this is how to smile. The only way to stray from her is not dying, okay?'" That was a total truth. Tourmaline was one of my usual customers, because agencies liked her and because she liked my photos. She was pretty much the only model I actually liked.

"That whole death thing was quite the inconvenience. Use yourself as an example to your models for that part!"

* * *

 **Havana Gomez (18) D1F**

 _Ava Brooch, what do you have in store for me today?_ I didn't know Ava too well. She seemed like a nice young lady, and Guinevere approved of her, so I was willing to give her a chance at getting into my squad. Ava had asked me for a game of chess, which gave her a boost. I didn't know how she found out about that, but if she got a girl to tell her about my test, then she was clearly a decent person to know.

"What color do you want to be?" I asked, sitting down across from Ava. She was already setting up the chess board. I stared at her, trying to figure out if she would give away her answer before she spoke. I wanted to know everything about this girl before she could even tell my last name, which was something I knew I could do. Ava was setting up the board sideways, so neither color was closer to her than to me.

"I don't really care. Do you have a preference?" Ava asked me. That surprised me. Most people knew for sure whether they wanted to go first or second. Ava seemed pretty meek, so I knew what I would have to do.

"Black. White goes first." I never did that. I always chose white, because then I had control from the beginning, but I had a feeling Ava wouldn't know what to do if I made her go first. She turned the board so the white faced her and the black faced me.

"Okay!" Ava moved one of her pawns one space forward. It was almost the only possible first move, other than getting your knight in front of the pawns. It was generally more of a defensive move than an offensive move, which intrigued me. Many girls knew that Guinevere only got into my squad by beating me, and just playing defense was a good way to lose.

I got my knight out, ready to attack, and waited. Ava thought for a long time before making a move, so I knew we would have a long game. Guinevere and Roxanne would be anxiously waiting to know whether Ava was accepted. Even I didn't know for sure how I felt about Ava, which was odd for me. Usually I could tell pretty quickly what was going to happen with a girl, which meant a lot of people had been sent from the table in tears.

Ava moved another pawn, this one on the other side of the board. I noticed that it wasn't spaced right for a perfect zigzag, one of the best defenses the game could offer, and was awfully confused. She seemed entirely focused on the game, even more so than I was, although that made sense. I was focused on Ava as much as I was on the game. I moved my knight closer to her again, knowing how hard it was to kill a knight, and how easily a knight could take out a queen. Ava used the bishop that her pawn had just moved out of the way of to remove my knight. I sighed, noticing that her other bishop was also free, and both knights could move. She actually knew what she was doing.

I got my other knight out, and Ava moved her bishop to a place she could easily remove it. I casually moved my knight back, and Ava took one of my pawns. I couldn't kill her from that point, in any way, and she could just keep hopping around and picking off my pawns. I moved the pawn that was kitty-corner of my queen, and Ava pulled her bishop back. I respected that. It was a safe move.

We kept playing for the better part of an hour. I picked off her pieces, and she seemed sad each time she lost one. She didn't have a good poker face, but I liked how much she protected her pieces. I could only imagine how much she would protect the squad if she put so much work toward saving a pawn. She picked off my pieces, though that seemed to pain her, too. She always peeked at me to make sure I wasn't too upset. I was getting pretty frustrated with how well she was doing, but I wasn't going to let her know that.

Finally, I saw the perfect move. I moved my queen to the second farthest end of the board, stopping her king from being able to move forward. I could put my rook at the back with the next move, and the game would be over. My fingers left the piece, and Ava's eyes flicked to her rook. It was in the same position as my queen, guarding my king, and her rook was in easy reach of my king. She considered for a long while, then put one of her pawns in the last row instead.

"Knight me," she said casually, as if both of us didn't know that she had just given away the game. I stood up.

"You should come over to my house tomorrow night. I'm having a sleepover," I said, moving my rook to the final row. It was checkmate, but that didn't matter. Ava seemed to be what I needed for the squad, so I would initiate her into the squad. She was compassionate and protective, which wasn't something we had yet, and she showed enough respect for all that I had. I could let that in.

* * *

 **Ta-da! The last reaping, and probably the longest one. Also, y'all should submit to dyloccupy's Games. It's a pretty neat idea.**


	16. Ask and Ye Shall Receive

**Pretty Person (Capitol?)**

 _It's so exciting to see all of the tributes. Wow, some of these appearances are so detailed. They're more detailed than I could describe myself. Not that that matters. I'm a hundred times more attractive than any of these people. I'm just so amazing. Nobody could ever outshine me. Tourmaline Addells? More like Pretty Person, if I do say so myself._

* * *

 **Polaris: Polaris has Hispanic (Native/Latin American) heritage, which gives him the features of narrow brown eyes and brown skin. He has long wavy black hair, which goes past his shoulders by an inch or two. He ties that into a manbun from time to time. Regardless of his hair being tied or not, he usually wears a rainbow tie-dyed bandana on his head during weekdays, and a black-and-white patterned bandana during weekends.** Thank you Duncan Macleod of the clan Macleod, Mr. Ponytail.

 **Havanna: Becky G** I can't even insult this. It's a faceclaim.

 **Edric: Edric is tall with a lean muscular build, a body you can tell he's been working on for ages. His forest green eyes look kind but at the same time lost. His bright smile could almost be seen fake or confused. His sandy blonde hair is usually a mess but in an oddly attractive way. Eddie looks like the Loki to someone's Thor.** Tbh I'm already running out of sassy remarks.

 **Bridgette:** **A muscular girl with dirty blonde hair that is wavy and goes down her back. She has icy blue eyes, pale skin, and a lot of freckles. She isn't very tall and people usually underestimate her because of her size. She's small but mighty.** Sounds really sharp. And scary.

 **Excel:** **Excel is a pretty pale and skinny Dutch kid, who just barely clears the 5 feet mark. He has dirty blonde hair with brown highlights and green eyes that have dark circles underneath. His slightly saggy skin is littered with pores and has the yellowish tint to it, like what morphling addicts have.** That's aggressively inside. Nocturnal?

 **Eris:** **She is somewhat short but wiry, with black hair that she ties into a messy ponytail.** Until proven otherwise, I'm assuming rainbow eyes.

 **Swift: Swift has short, cleanly trimmed blond hair, with green eyes and a devilish smile usually inhabiting them. He has a muscled frame and is usually smiling. He has tanned skin from all of his time in District 4. He is 5 feet and 11 inches.** That's my dad's height, and I'm mildly uncomfortable. Also, smizle, boy, smizle! (Don't Google that)

 **Rialta: Rialta has elbow-length dirty blonde hair which seems to be perpetually messy. She has a tan, but not as much as other Four citizens since she prefers staying inside on sunny days and going out on cloudy or rainy days. She has light blue eyes, and is often seen wearing a fancy hat. She has an overbite.** Define fancy. I'm thinking huge velvet hat with a feather. Yankee-doodle approved.

 **Turbo: Turbo is tall and heavyset. He has brown hair and dark blue eyes. He has a round face and usually smiles. He has fat fingers.** Very descriptive, LCS. 10/10. (I'm allowed to insult her. We're sisters :P)

 **Margherita: She's half German half Mexican, so she is fair-skinned but not completely pale. She has dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She's around 5'7.** I just copy/paste appearances, but elsewhere it says her hair is calf-length. Obligatory sass:Ich bin ein Berliner. (Google translate won't work right on that one.)

 **Omri: Omri has dark skin, probably of Indian descendant. He also has rich chocolate brown eyes. He is tall and has scruffy hazel brown hair.** Probably of Indian descent. Nobody knows for sure. Maybe he's totally white. Maybe he's part shark. The world may never know.

 **Althea: Althea has wavy dark blonde hair that falls to her mid-back. She has warm dark brown eyes and a lot of freckles. She's tall at 5'9", and pretty thin. She usually wears whatever clothes are comfortable, like plain shirts, in her free time, but she does like to look nice for formal events.** Althea seems like a good person to invite to a tea party. Dainty.

 **Forrest: Forrest has pale skin, blue eyes, and dirty blond hair. He is on the short side, but is quite muscular.** With a last name like Wonderland, you'd expect something like purple skin. Good thing Pi isn't like that.

 **Sylvia: Sylvia has pale skin and blue eyes. She has shoulder-length platinum blonde hair that she wears as a straight fringe. She is very short, and has a naturally small frame, but she is well-nourished.** Is this dark blue or light blue eyes? Because I'm imagining something out of a horror story.

 **Caddis: Caddis has unorganised wild brown hair. His eyes are small and form to narrow stripes if he thinks about something. His face is round. He has an average height and weight, because his grandfather takes such good care of him. Caddis doesn't look very tough, but he acts like he is sometimes.** Are you tough, or tuff?

 **Amelia: Blonde, grey eyes, about 1.62 meters tall, long hair** 5.3 feet. Is her hair as long as Margherita's?

 **Lorenk: 5 foot 9 inches, Olive-tan skin, hazel eyes, dark brown eyes skinny but not scrawny, dark brown hair short.** But is his hair shorter than LCS's? Half an inch tapered to a quarter.

 **Tori:** **Tori has light brown afro hair that reaches to her shoulders. It's always a mess to actually brush it so she doesn't bother to. She has round blue eyes that is hidden beneath long eyelashes. She has high cheekbones, with thick eyebrows. She has dark skin with red full lips. She has a button nose, small ears, and long limbs. Tori is average weight and stands about 5'5.** Afro hair that reaches the shoulders? That's a struggle.

 **Derwin: Long, dark brown hair usually tied back into a small ponytail. Has brown eyes, and is about 5'8. He has a lean build, and tan skin (from being out in the sun a lot).** Small ponytail? Rat-tail.

 **Nyra: She has thick brown wavy hair that she wears in a ponytail and a ton of freckles. Her eyes are a vibrant green and her nose is thin and pointy. She stands at about 5'6** A ton of freckles? Just a straight-up red face? Eyelid freckles?

 **Robin: He has black hair, black eyes, a pale skin tone, and he lacks a tongue. There's a long scar running from his left hairline through, his cheek and jawline, ending right above his throat.** This one got edited in PM, so no copy/paste. RIP. Chicks dig scars, though.

 **Saige: Saige has straight pitch black hair that reaches just below her ribcage. It is usually greasy with split ends, and is rather disgusting. She has wide dark brown eyes that either make her look extremely sad or absolutely insane. She has lighter brown skin than the rest of the district, and she isn't the best well kept person in Eleven. She has hairy legs and arms, because she doesn't have access to a razor to shave. She has a thin, sickly looking build and stands at about 5'5.** "Isn't the best well kept person in Eleven..." You don't say? Also, hairy legs aren't an issue. You do you, Saige.

 **Orrick: Barric long black hair which always looks a mess but dark brown eyebrows. He has quite a skinny and stick like build (because of not having access to vast amount of food) and a height of 5"7. His cheeks always have a rosy tint to them and his eyes are a seaweed green colour.** As someone who normally sees heavily soy-sauced seaweed, I feel that I'm imagining the wrong color here.

 **Appalachia: Appalachia is a short girl, with the normal seem look: dark hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. She's skinny and very tiny, only standing at about 4'9". She looks like a skeleton from far away, practically skin and bone. Always dirty, and she smells completely putrid. She hasn't had a bath in years.** The Capitol will fix your bath problem right up honey, don't you worry.


	17. Train Rides

**Extravagance Eleanor (D1Mentor)**

"Why'd you volunteer?" I asked both of the tributes who were sitting in front of me. As always, I had two volunteers, and as was often the case, I didn't know exactly what to make of them just yet. I needed backstory if I was going to be able to build them up well, as was my job and responsibility.

"I guess I wanted to prove to everyone that I could," Havanna said, clearly taking her time answering. "Some people used to underestimate me, and I want to make sure that never happens again." I respected that idea. It held a strong possibility of getting her through the Games.

"I need to bring pride to my District. The Academy chose me," Polaris said, thinking he was a better liar than he truly was. I didn't know his real reason, but I wasn't going to push. I could understand why someone wouldn't be too quick to tell me their motives in front of the enemy.

* * *

 **Totsuki Sugihara (D2Mentor)**

Edric wasn't my job. He was off with Nero, trying to convince the man not to kill him, I was sure. Even I didn't like working around Nero, so I was sure our male would be having a hard time. Bridgette got the easier task of working with me, although I wasn't sure it could really count as easy. I didn't like the kid. She looked scared to enter the Games, which would be reasonable if she hadn't volunteered for this task.

"I'm not that scared," she said to me when she walked onto the train. "Weren't you nervous for your Games?"

"Of course I was mildly upset at times. You just have a cruddy poker face," I replied, totally calmly. Just because I had my nervous moments didn't mean being a total nervous wreck was at all acceptable.

"All right. I can fix that. Now that I'm in this, I'm going to win. What advice do you have for me?" Bridgette said, pulling herself up taller and looking a hundred times more confident. _That_ was a poker face.

"Keep doing that. You need to intimidate people, because nobody will underestimate a Career. Make your allies think you need you, and you're there."

* * *

 **Alesandro Ferme (D3Mentor)**

"So, what made you decide to volunteer?" I asked my thirteen-year-old charge. He clearly wasn't physically or mentally prepped for this, and he kept quietly fidgeting and muttering to himself while I was sitting across from him. He didn't look up from his hands when he spoke to me, but he must have decided that I was important, because he bothered to answer.

"I'm pretty much the least valuable of my brothers," he said quietly. "I guess Mom wanted Link around more, and I could give her that much. I'm definitely the least valuable of the family. Can't learn anything. Don't like colors. Don't like fabrics. Mom always got mad at me about that. And it's not like life is worth that much anyways."

* * *

 **Talaysa Pool (D4Mentor)**

"All right! Neither of you are really that big, from what I can tell. What's special about you?" I asked both of my tributes. I got to mentor them both, which was pretty cool. I hoped they had a good answer for me.

"Well, I'm kinda nice, which I guess is cool for a Career. And I know how to make some super cool jokes, so I guess I can give moral support," Swift said. He seemed unsure of himself, which didn't make much sense. Most Careers were super confident.

"I know a lot about anatomy, and I know almost everything there is to know about the process of dying," Rialta said, more calmly. She was a bit off-putting, but I could fix that.

"All right! Swift, go watch the Reapings for allies. Rialta, we need to get to work on being a better people person."

* * *

 **Sol Johnson (D5Mentor)**

"Turbo, do you want to get any allies? What's your plan so far?" I asked my pupil. He was watching me very intently, and I decided that was a good thing. The more he listened, the more he could learn.

"I would like to get allies. I would probably mostly do what my allies want me to do, because I know that they will probably be smarter than I am," Turbo replied, taking his time with his words. I was confused by that answer. Most people either had a vague plan or a totally far-fetched idea by the time they were on the train, and here Turbo was, just going with the flow.

"You know what? That's not a half bad idea. You do what your allies tell you at first, but keep an eye on them. The first time they tell you to do something dumb, get out of there, okay?"

"Most things I do are dumb, but I can try."

* * *

 **Rodney Sanchez (D6Mentor)**

Omri was holding himself together pretty well, and I was glad for that. It was my first year mentoring, and I didn't know what to do with such a well-behaved young man, much less what to do if my tribute had ended up crying and sobbing on the floor. I sat myself down across a table from him and tried to decide what my first words should be.

"What are you fighting for?" I finally decided on. I knew a lot of mentors asked for strengths or weaknesses, but motive seemed to matter so much more.

"I want to get back to my District," he said quickly, as if he had had that answer planned all along.

"Well, why would you want that? Six already has two Victors," I pointed out. That was a dumb reason to live.

"That's true. I guess I don't really know. My mother could use my around the house, I guess, and we could use the money."

"That's better, but it's still weak. When you're going through the Games, you're going to need a really strong reason to live. Otherwise, you just might give up."

* * *

 **Cassia Rose (D7Mentor)**

"All right, you two. What's special enough about you that you deserve to live?" I asked both of my tributes. I noticed that I was getting more standoffish as the years went on, but I was also noticing that I didn't really care. Only one of them could come back, and that was best case scenario.

"Hm. That's actually a good question," Forrest said. "Everyone kinda deserves this. I guess I still have so much to learn that killing me off now would be a shame. Also, the world needs my fabulous riddles." I knew Forrest was joking, but I also didn't really have time for any humor.

"I don't really know. Maybe we should focus more on Forrest," Sylvia said. "He deserves to win this thing more than I do. I wouldn't even be living if I was living without him."

"All right. Here's what's going to happen. Sylvia, you're Forrest's crutch. Make sure he does well. Forrest, use your romance to get sponsors. Also, make something super dramatic out of it if Sylvia dies. You're the one that I think might come home," I said. I needed a male Victor more than a female Victor anyways.

* * *

 **Rybbon Marbroox (D8Mentor)**

"Why are you my mentor?" Caddis asked me as soon as I sat down across from him. "Not to be rude, or anything. It's just, don't males usually mentor males?"

"Well, Ember and I agreed that Elias was totally not allowed to mentor anymore. The man's insane. He's on the train, but you really shouldn't talk to him. He won't do you any good. I'd like to mentor you, if you're okay with that," I replied, trying to keep Caddis comfortable. He seemed to be doing fine on his own.

"I guess that's all right. What are your pearls of wisdom?" Caddis said, smiling at his little joke. I realized that I didn't have many of those.

"Well, I told the Eight male last year that he should be a jack-of-all trades. That obviously didn't work too well, so you should try to learn just a couple things. I'd say learn one weapon and a bunch of survival. You'd be surprised how much that can matter." I tried to pretend that I didn't notice Caddis' eyes tearing up when I casually mentioned the last Eight male. _Note to self: Don't mention the fallen._

* * *

 **Flora Amfora (D9Mentor/Escort)**

Lorenk would not stop glaring at me. I couldn't figure out what that was all about, but I was not going to have it. First I had to deal with that barbaric Culic, and now I was stuck with a swearing tribute that wouldn't even say a word. I did _not_ sign up for this.

"All right. Would you like to focus on sponsors or allies? I hate to admit that I'm not good with most advice, but I do know how to handle relationships," I said to Tori, who wasn't being a total dirtbag.

"Darn right you're not good with most advice," Lorenk said. I ignored him.

"I think I should focus on sponsors. I know how Districts work, but I don't know the Capitol," Tori said, which was good. I knew a lot more about the Capitol than the Districts.

"Good! I know a lot about Capitolites. You look like a punk, so you should embody that. Standoffish, maybe get a streak, and wear a lot of leather. Of course, let every Capitolite you meet think that they're the ones to get you out of your shell. Capitolites love being special. You'll get so many gifts."

* * *

 **Bessie Deer (D10Mentor)**

 _Oh dear._ I had heard a thing or two about Nyra. There wasn't much, because everybody knew that they shouldn't spread rumors about rebels, but there were enough about her that I knew she had a plan going on. That was definitely a problem, because although the Capitol hadn't killed her yet, they definitely wouldn't let her win if she kept going on like herself.

"Nyra and Derwin, how do you think you can best present yourselves to win?" I asked my tributes.

"I don't think I'm going to win. Most of the real me is kinda cute, but I'm way too old to use that," Derwin said.

"There's no way I'm going to win. The Capitol hasn't killed me, but they sure as heck will," Nyra said, settling down in her seat. She had seemed so confident when she was Reaped, and now she was quietly dying. I could understand why. She wasn't wrong.

"Well, you know what? That's a great mindset to have. There's nowhere to go but up. You know that I barely won the Games? Hardly alive when it happened. If I had your mindset, I would have died. I'm not letting either of you give up."

* * *

 **Cherry Aims (D11Mentor)**

"What do you think about the - oh gosh, hun!" I was _going_ to ask what Saige thought about the Games, but something was clearly off with the girl. I was going to have to have some other priorities. "All you all right?" I switched to.

"I guess. I'm kind of okay? I just got out of a jail cell," Saige said, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head on them. She was very clearly uncomfortable, but I didn't really know what to do about that.

"What were you in for?" That clearly wasn't the best question, but my curiosity got the better of my professionalism.

"Murder."

"Do you mind if I ask why you murdered someone?"

"I've heard that I'm like, insane, or something. I don't really remember killing her. Something was definitely up, I kinda fuzz for a while, and my sister's dead. Then I got put in jail. Not killed, though. I guess I was young. They didn't care that everyone calls me insane."

I realized that I actually might know what was up with the girl. It had to be schizophrenia or bipolar depression, and she didn't seem to be schizophrenic. I sighed and stood up, taking apart the couch I was sitting. "Well, I can't get you a jail cell, but I can make you a fort. Sorry I'm not more useful here. All I can say is, after this, murdering your sister won't be your biggest problem."

* * *

 **Bellepheron Steed (D12Escort/Mentor)**

Appalachia held herself surprisingly confidently for a twelve-year-old going into the Games. Barric was having a much more reasonable reaction, and that seemed to be shock. He didn't seem confident or scared, and there were only so many options. "All right! I say this every year, but I don't know too much about the Games. I learn a little more every year. Would both of you rather focus on strengths, allies, or sponsors?" I asked them, finally realizing that they could decide this themselves.

"I think I need more sponsors than anything," Appalachia said. "I'm a street kid, so the Games are pretty much everyday life. I've gotten beat up some times, and this'll just be worse beatings." I nodded. That kid was tougher than I was, and I was a full-grown adult.

"I think I need sponsors too," Barric said. "I don't know what else I could possibly learn."

I thought for a second, then said, "There are a lot of things kids could learn. You can learn traps, or you can learn long-distance weapons. Plus, you can learn how to live without sponsors. Of course, I just read this from a book, but it seems to make sense to me."

* * *

 **Well it's ABOUT TIME**


	18. Parade Prep

**Caelina Livantus (D1 Stylist)**

Much to my disappointment, I didn't get to meet a fabulous model this year around. However, I was exciting to meet Polaris. He was a reasonably well-known photographer, and I knew that he was definitely an artist. He was wearing a tie-dyed bandana, and I knew I would have to incorporate that into the outfit somehow. I didn't know exactly what to do with Havanna, but I could work on that later. It only made sense that this year the male would be the star of the show.

* * *

 **Sonoma Cleric (D2 Stylist)**

Beauty is pain, and I knew how to capitalize on that. Although both of my tributes might hate me by the time I was done with them, I was going to make sure they were gorgeous, as a person and as a whole match. Bridget was definitely giving me a hard time with trying to prep the outfit I was making her, since she didn't seem to want to get undressed - trust a Two girl to be underconfident - but I still knew I could work with her. At least Edric had the good sense to let me do whatever I wanted with him, and I was going to do just that.

* * *

 **Uranus Glaze (D3 Stylist)**

 _Boy, you are too thin. Your skin is so messed up. What am I going to do with you?_ Excel was not an easy canvas to work with. I could tell with ease that he was one of _those_ Threes, though I couldn't tell when he had last used some morphling. I couldn't well let someone as messed up as him appear in public, so I was going to have to do a lot of touch-ups. _Such a problem child._ It was easy to get inspiration from Eris. _She_ had drive. _She_ had a story. _She_ wasn't some butt-ugly poor kid.

* * *

 **Kohl Augustine (D4 Stylist)**

"That is a gorgeous hat. Where did you get it? That's it; it's going to be inspiration." Rialta didn't say much to me, but the hat she was wearing spoke layers. I wasn't sure how she got it to the Capitol, because it would be a pretty weird token to use, but I wasn't going to question how she got the hat. I was just going to use it to my greatest advantage. Swift was less exciting, since he actually looked and dressed normally, but I could still have a fun time with him. Four had so many things to work with, even the most bland tribute could be useful.

* * *

 **Jezebel Esther (D5 Stylist)**

 _That's a lot of hair._ I was definitely going to have to do something about Margherita's hair. I couldn't have that mess getting in the way of the outfit, and I couldn't very easily incorporate it into any outfit.

"Do you mind if I lop this off?" I asked Margherita. She shook her head almost aggressively, so I didn't. "Fine. FINE! We can work with this. I can handle this." I could not handle this. I could handle Turbo, who was actually a normal human being, but that was too much hair for even a Capitolite.

* * *

 **Estee Lauder (D6 Stylist)**

 _Hm... Althea Fender. Fenderrrrr. That's an interesting name. I bet people make dumb puns about it all the time._ After many long minutes of contemplating, I decided not to make Althea's outfit a bad pun. I didn't want her to have to deal with it, since she probably constantly did back at home. I still had to relate it to Six somehow, but it wasn't going to be that dumb. Omri didn't really give me any ideas at first, but after comparing him to Althea for a while, inspiration struck. I was going to have the first matching Six outfit in years.

* * *

 **Sephora Hyler (D7 Stylist)**

"Oh my gosh! You two are dating? I can _so_ work with that. This is going to be perfect. You will have sponsors for miles!" I didn't really get anything from Sylvia other than that she was Forrest's girlfriend, but that didn't really matter. I didn't need to know their personalities, because those didn't matter. Only outer beauty mattered in the parade, and I was going to be providing her with plenty of that. Even Forrest would be gorgeous under my care. _I got blessed this year! None of the other outfits are gonna compare._

* * *

 **Revlon Cosmix (D8 Stylist)**

"So you like art? Well, Eight is the District of creativity! There's no more freedom to express yourself in the Districts than there is with cloth. I'll see what I can do for you..." Caddis was a very exciting young man. He was loud and rambunctious, making him exactly what I needed to not die of boredom as a stylist. I would try my best for him. Amelia was much more of a lady than a child, but I didn't mind that. She would get a polite outfit for being a polite child. I hoped the understatedness would stick out.

* * *

 **Lucullus Pedalite (D9 Stylist)**

Lorenk would not stop glaring at me! I didn't know what was wrong with him, but I figured it must have something to do with the reason he wouldn't stop swearing when he got Reaped. Well, he chose the wrong stylist to mess with! I could make a screwed up outfit for a screwed up tribute. He didn't have anyone to blame but himself. Tori pretended to be nice, although I could tell she didn't really like me easily. It made sense for her to try to appeal to me, and I would let her think it worked. _She_ could have something decent.

* * *

 **Narcissa Belfleur (D10 Stylist)**

Inspiration strikes whenever inspiration pleases. For me, it didn't please very often. It didn't please when I needed it most, the day of the parade, so my tributes would have to live with being sorely disappointed. I felt pretty bad about my failure, too. Nyra and Derwin seemed like such nice people, I would definitely sponsor them if stylists were allowed to sponsor their own District. _Oh well._ A bunch of boring outfits for me.

* * *

 **Olay Yallansen (D11 Stylist)**

Oh, dear! Robin was such a cute kid. He was hardly a kid, as I could tell from both his face and his age, and he didn't say a word, but I didn't blame him. He looked so scared the whole time that I worked with him that I hardly wanted to do anything to him at all. Even measuring him was so hard that I decided something loose might be acceptable, just this once. I didn't know what to do with him or with Saige, but I only cared about him. Saige was trying to rip apart every piece of fabric I had the whole time I worked with her. Jerk.

* * *

 **Rondo Nona (D12 Stylist)**

Appalachia was a fighter. I could tell the moment she walked through the door, covered in bruises and skinnier than I was. I couldn't seem to get away from tributes that kept getting hurt. Orric was nice, but I found myself unable to stop thinking about Appalachia. I let Orric dress himself, which was definitely frowned upon, but I didn't care. I wanted to make sure Appalachia got something nice during her time in the Capitol, because it didn't look like she did anywhere else.

* * *

 **Well this was a rollercoaster. I finally got another chapter written, and now you've seen heartless and caring mentors. Totally opposite ends of the spectrum, lads.**


	19. Parade

**Creamy Smooth (Capitolite Parade-Goer)**

Berree, Unimportanta, and Stupidita were all going to the parade together this year. Icy couldn't be bothered to show up with us, since she said we were "distractions" and "a shame upon the fashion industry," whatever that was supposed to mean. I didn't care. We had beautiful spots, even though they were second row, and I had purchased twice my regular amount of roses. Nobody was going to mess up the parade, the best time of the year, when I got to choose who to spend my money on.

One rolled out, and I gasped. Polaris was totally covered in white paint - even his eyelids! - and he was standing almost perfectly still, striking a dazzling pose. Random other colors of paint were splashed on him, too, and even someone as dumb as Stupidata could tell that he was a statue. It was an amazing idea, especially since he took photos. I threw him one of my roses. I had more than Twelve, after all. Havanna was covered in knives of various sizes, which definitely couldn't be safe, but I thought it was cool. Unimportanta threw her a rose.

I was surprised by the amount of effort that must have gone into Two's outfits. Edric was wearing a one-shouldered toga, half of which was white and half of it was red. It seemed to be sewn out of different fabrics, and he seemed totally pleased with it. It swirled a bit, with the fabrics merging in and out of one another. Bridgette was wearing another single-shouldered outfit, but hers was a dress made out of various stones, some large and some ground. She moved well in it, and I couldn't understand how that could work. Still, I threw them a rose. That was awesome.

Three was definitely interesting. Eris seemed to be wearing the same thing she was wearing at the Reaping, which was a white dress, except now it had some red mixed in. It looked like it got stained, but she was holding her head high. She was also wearing a fur, and I thought it was a real corpse draped over her, which was totally disgusting. Excel was this big, bulky alien-looking thing, which I couldn't make any sense of. I couldn't even see him at all past the rounded green mess of a costume, so I didn't throw anyone a rose. Someone in front of me did, and I had to look to see who could throw something that awful a rose.

Standing in front of me, in the front row seat I had tried to get, was none other than Icy herself. I glared at her. "We're the shame? You just threw a rose at an awful, gaudy costume," I spat at her. She turned her head.

"That is a beautiful reference to the warrior that Eris is, as well as something from the pre-Dark Days. Personally, I think it's amazing the stylists even knew what brand that was, what with how much information is limited these days. Then again, I couldn't expect you to know that," she replied, going back to the parade. I was disgusted. I didn't invite her to the parade _one_ time, and she was that mad at me? Jerk.

Shaking my head, I turned back to the parade. Four was halfway through showing, but I got a glance at them anyways. Swift was dressed as a seahorse, which I could appreciate. I always loved those little things at the Capitol aquariums. They were adorable. His outfit was red, which I thought made sense. Classic seahorse color. Rialta was wearing a speckled jumpsuit, with little lines that looked like flickering lights across it. She had on a hideous beret that looked like a nasty blob with teeth, but her cute little seahorse earrings made up for it. I didn't throw them a rose, because that hat was gross, but plenty of other people did.

When Five rolled out, Margherita's outfit totally overpowered Turbo's. She was wearing a blue jumpsuit with black tubing running over it, and the tubing had some liquid going through it. I couldn't tell what it was, but it was flashy and cool. She also had a cute headband on, which I liked. I planned to buy one later. Turbo's face was covered in dust, and he was wearing a boring shirt and some boring pants. It was ripped up and oily, and I couldn't make any sense of it, but he was holding some parts that I recognized as part of my toy helicopter. _Weird._ I threw him a rose because he seemed so intent on doing well.

District Six had super cute matching outfits. Althea was wearing a white button-up shirt and black jeans, with a tie and black patches on her shoulders. She also had a black hat with a cute little label on it, which I thought was a neat detail. She had on shades, and she kept whispering something into a fake radio she was holding. Omri was wearing a white t-shirt with a black vest, and a blue tie. He offered various drinks to Althea, until he spilled one on her shirt. She started yelling "Mayday! Mayday!" into her radio, and finally, everything clicked. I threw them two roses, because both outfits deserved recognition.

Forrest caught my eye as soon as he rolled out. He was dressed in a shirt and pants which were varying shades of green and brown, and little carvings and dips in them made them look like they were really made of wood. He had a leafy crown on, the leaves varying yellows and reds, and he had a scepter that seemed to be made of snow. He was smiling and waving to everyone. Sylvia was wearing a matching dress, except her crown was snow and she had leafy gloves. She was leaning on Forrest the whole ride through, smiling and staring at him. _Weird._

Eight rolled out, and as always, they were a confusing bunch. Caddis had on a black beret, black pants, and a red-and-white striped shirt. He had a flat board with paint on it in one hand, and a paintbrush in the other. I couldn't tell what that had to do with fabric at all, but I didn't really mind. It was a pretty cute outfit, so I liked it. Amelia was wearing a light pink dress that had a bit of ruching and a white tiara. I supposed it was fabric, but I didn't throw them any roses. That was cheap.

District Nine was an interesting bunch this year. Tori was dressed up in a bright yellow outfit with some oranges mixed in, and it was giving off light. She danced around a little bit, playing with it, and I thought it was cool. She was wearing yellow eye shadow in an ombre, and I threw a rose just for how hard that makeup must have been. Lorenk was wearing a brown shirt and brown pants with wheat hastily glued all over it. I got how it related to Nine, but I couldn't understand how the stylist thought that was an acceptable design choice. It was revolting.

I never knew what to expect from District Ten. It wasn't what I got. Nyra was dressed up as a giant cowbell, and judging by the way she moved, it was made of real metal. That didn't stop her from jumping around and having a great time on the chariot, but she almost knocked Derwin down. Derwin was dressed as the string for Nyra's cowbell, and it didn't look fun. He just had the black cord looped around him, sometimes layered, covering all the necessary parts you needed to cover. I threw him a rose so he could cover a little more of himself.

Eleven was definitely exciting this year around. Saige was dressed as a big pink flower, with what could have been hundreds of petals surrounding her. It seemed pretty awkward to move in, but I actually thought it looked cool. Her face was painted bright yellow, probably for the center of the petal. Robin was dressed as the stalk. He had a green jumpsuit on, with a couple of leaves poking out. It seemed awful, but he was pointing at the horses, the chariot, his outfit, and everything else so excitedly that I hardly even noticed the suit. I threw them three roses, and I wasn't the only person to throw something. He smiled bigger with each one.

Twelve was quite a surprise. Orrick was dressed in a flannel shirt and wearing overalls, which I couldn't relate to coal, regardless of how hard I tried. He had a stalk of wheat between his teeth and a straw hat, which made no sense. However, Appalachia's outfit made up for it a hundred times over. She was wearing a crown of coal, and her makeup was mostly black. She had on a sleek dress with a huge tail, and it started off black, then faded into gray and finally white. The very end even had little gemstones studded in it, and I figured out pretty quickly that they were diamonds. I threw her a rose. She looked awesome.

* * *

 **Ta-da! I didn't take a month to update this time. Here we have the whole parade, and I got an idea during it. To EVERYONE reading this, please PM or review me your favorite outfit. It'll be a little note to me so I know who's still around, but it'll also influence Creamy's opinion on the tributes. You can choose on creativity, beauty, or whatever the heck you feel like. Let the competition commence.**


	20. Career Pack

**Polaris "Aris" Flasher (18) D1M**

After the training day was done, I knew where I was headed. There weren't too many places that tributes could go in the Capitol, those places all being in one building, but I knew I was going to explore the Games building from top to bottom. It would be important for me to know more clearly what type of people I was working with, and I was hoping to get some good public relations before I had to go into the Games. As a photographer, I had to know how to be easy to work with, and how to advertise myself more than my company ever would, and I intended to keep that with me.

The top floor of the Games building was just about abandoned. It took some effort to get into, as it seemed it was a VIP area, but nothing was really happening. I ignored that floor and went on to the next. It had a bunch of stores and kitschy souvenirs, and with that, a bunch of people. I wandered in and out of stores randomly, looking at random foods and toys, and hoped someone would notice me. I was a tribute, which gave me a fair amount of fame, but I was also famous on my own. I figured someone would approach me in good time.

I waited hours. I walked into every store on the second floor, which was no small feat. There must have been fifty stores there, and sometimes I lost track of which ones I had been in and which ones I hadn't. They were all so similar. Finally, I admitted defeat and went down a floor, hoping there would be someone down there that would know me. I figured I could approach someone, but I didn't want to come off as brash and proud. I needed to seem calm and polite, or else I would just push people away.

The third floor down was a godsend. As soon as I went down the steps, someone noticed me and pointed. She noted me to her friend, whose eyes flashed when she saw me. They both ran up to me, and I did a quick scan of them. They were both girls, which didn't really matter, but that was hard not to notice. They were smiling and squealing, pointing and running over to me, so it wasn't hard to tell that they were excited to meet me.

"Are you Polaris Flasher?" the girl who first noticed me asked. I nodded.

"The one and only! And you are?" I replied.

"I'm Chandro, and this is Motrei. We're big fans of yours," the other girl said.

"Do you think you could take our picture?" Motrei asked. I nodded again.

"Of course! Do either of you have a camera?" Both girls pulled out a camera, but in the end, Chandro got to give me hers. I made a big show of walking around them, trying to find their best angles, even though the photographer in me easily saw what was best. I had to be flashy to make sure I was remembered. I positioned them carefully, having them look down to make their chins look tiny and their eyes huge. It worked a bit too well, but I figured they wouldn't care. "And here you go! Some lovely pictures for some lovely ladies."

"Ack! Thank you so much!" Motrei said.

"It's no problem. I'll try to remember you when I come back here."

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

This year, the Careers formed a simple plan during training. We would all do what we wanted. That was a great idea on Polaris' part, because if he tried to totally take charge and tell us what to do, there would have been a quick uprising. I didn't mind him thinking he was the leader for the time being. Nobody else seemed to, either. But if he stepped out of his bounds for just one second, I would be quick to remind him that I had just as much of a brain as he did, and I didn't need someone to boss me around every second of the day.

I wanted to focus on poison darts for the most part. Most poisons could be made out of things I could find, or Capitolites could send them in for me. Either way, they should be easy to come across, and I could figure out how to work them pretty easily. It wasn't hard to throw a dart like a knife, and if I had a blowgun, I could figure out how to work that. I focused almost entirely on the blowgun part of the poison stall, seeing as I already knew how to aim my throws as well as I ever would.

While I was using my blowgun, I saw another tribute walking up to me. I kept on eye on her and switched to throwing instead of using the gun. I wasn't going to let her see my weakest weapon being used. She was the Six female, and she didn't even seem to notice when I switched. She just kept walking until she was standing right next to me.

"I'd like to join the Pack," she

I stared at her in amazement. That was a bit of a big thing to say so bluntly. I could honestly say I didn't expect it, which got her major points. Most people were awfully predictable. "What do you bring to the table?" I asked her.

"I'm Althea. I'm not that strong, but I'm cute and I have a sob story. I'll bring sponsors, and I'm smart. Plus, then you know where I am at all times, so I'll be easier to find when you want to get rid of me," Althea said, trying her hardest to maintain eye contact. I mentally congratulated her for trying, but also silently mocked her for not being able to look at me.

"I like you. I'll see what I can do for you with the others. Go back to whatever you were doing." I didn't know if I could get her into the Pack, but I could try. She was an interesting one, and it wouldn't hurt to have a higher body count.

* * *

 **Edric Lyons (18) D2M**

My mentor, Nero, had no idea how to work with people like me - People like me being anyone who wasn't a bloodthirsty monster that entered the Games just for the fun of it. Totsuki also didn't know how to work with me, but I got the feeling she just didn't want to. I was desperate to find someone that could actually help me win the Games, and I stumbled onto Shale. I figured she couldn't be as bad as the other mentors, so I talked to her, and she wasn't - which was a godsend. I wouldn't make it anywhere if I was all alone.

"So, what's your main idea for trying to win? I know living is a thing, but you need something with more pizzazz. After you've killed your first kid, living won't seem quite as appealing," Shale said. I didn't have to think about that at all. I had been training against my better judgement for years. I knew my reasons.

"My dad's in a coma. We need a way to get him medicine instead of just keeping him alive, or else they're going to pull the plug someday. The Games could provide that," I said, keeping it blunt and short. I couldn't get into too many details or I wouldn't be able to keep my composure up.

"...Oh." It took Shale a second to reply to me, and I figured she wasn't used to Careers having reasons like that. Most of us wanted pride or glory, and I didn't disapprove. Someone had to go in, so what did the reason matter? I did think my reason was a bit better, though. "Well, that's a good reason. Hold on to that. How are you going to win?"

"That's just the problem. I need to win the Games to save my dad, but if I win, he might not want me anymore. My dad's a great guy, and he wanted me to be a great guy, but great people don't win the Games. I can't die in the Games, obviously. I need to win to save him, but he might not want to be saved. It's such an enigma." I didn't know why I felt safe telling Shale that. Maybe I figured I had nothing to lose. Either I'd die, or I'd be a Victor. There was no shame in either.

"Great people can win the Games. Rodney's been pretty cool so far. He has a penpal that he keeps sending letters to, even though it takes a ton of postage to get to the Capitol from Six. And he had to fight pretty hard to do it legally. I like to think I'm at least decent. Rybbon's pretty cool. Plenty of us aren't monsters, you know. We do regrettable things, but if your dad disowns you after you risked your life to save him, he's not the hero you think he is." I was amazed by how well Shale responded. Everything she said made perfect sense, and I did believe that some Victors were cool people. It just never clicked that I could be a cool Victor, too. _That's actually logical._

* * *

 **Bridgette Striker (17) D2F**

Training was fine and dandy. I enjoyed it, just like I enjoyed the Academy. However, nobody could train forever, and even if I wanted to, we weren't allowed to. After a while we were all ushered out of the training room, left to our own devices to entertain ourselves for as long as we wanted before we went to bed. I was confident some tributes would be total idiots, while others would probably just eat bonbons and be happy. I was going to do neither of those things. I had been cooped up for a long time, pushing my body to its limits, and I needed a proper cool-down before I could go to sleep.

Most tributes seemed to be staying inside, which was good for me. I walked up a flight of stairs, then another, preparing to clear my head from all the mania - prepping for the Games could put a toll on Careers, too - and get my first breath of fresh air in a while. I needed to think, and I couldn't do that too well with hundreds of Capitolites and twenty-three other tributes swarming around everywhere. I climbed enough flights of stairs that I lost count, and I had to fight for permission to enter the top floor, then I went past it. The roof was my endgame from the start, and it was worth thirty flights of stairs.

I sat down on the edge of the roof, dangling my legs in the air. I figured the Capitol wouldn't let me die, so it had to be safe to do. I sat there and stared out at the Capitol, of which the Games building seemed to be near the center. The lights were all beautiful, and it wasn't the mass of white and yellow I was used to. The Capitol had multicolored lights, which was pretty fancy, but even they couldn't keep my eyes off of the things above me.

 _Stars._ As the stars and moon caught my eye, practically dragging my gaze away from the city, I realized how long it had been since I had looked up. I had been focused on one thing or another, and it might have been years since I last stargazed. I pulled my legs away from the edge, lying down on the roof to just stare up. The sky was gorgeous. I didn't know how the natural lights could outshine the unnatural ones, but they did. It was probably because I was above them.

I almost had to laugh when I realized what I was doing. I was staring up at the night sky, realizing that I had spent years ignoring that beauty. I finally remembered to look at one of the most beautiful sights in the world, and it was a week before I would be stuck in a killing game. What I was doing was absolute madness. It would just torture me if I was stuck in an inside Arena. But the night sky was nice enough that I was willing to take that risk.

* * *

 **Swift Counter (18) D4M**

As a Career, I was supposed to be a strong, stoic, rule-follower. Mischief-makers didn't get chosen to volunteer, because they would just get killed in the Games. Apparently I wasn't a mischief-maker, but I was about to prove everyone who had decided that wrong. It had been a long day of training, and now I was ready to go explore the Capitol. That was wildly frowned-upon and supposed to be impossible, but that didn't mean it would stop me. It just meant it would take a bit more effort than it needed to.

As a Career, I had to know how to plan ahead. I knew exactly what I was going to do to get out of the Games Building. I walked up to a large group of Capitolites - it must have been a party; there were probably fifteen of them - and introduced myself.

"Hey! I'm Swift. You all probably kind of know me," I said, not really sure how else to say that. They looked at each other for just a second, then nodded.

"You're the Four boy! I'm Kettie," a girl said, offering me her hand. I took it and shook it.

"Glad to meet you all. I was actually wondering if I could ask you a small favor," I said, unable to keep a smile off my face. I didn't want to be rude and rush them, but if someone noticed me hanging out with them for too long, they might figure out what was up.

"What is it? I'd love to help out a Career!" one of the boys said. I smiled slightly bigger.

"Can I leave the Games Building with your group? Like, hidden in between you? I'm not technically supposed to leave, but it would be pretty great." It was an odd idea, and I figured the Capitolites might rat me out, but most of them seemed more interested in hanging with a Career then in following the rules.

"Sure! Get in here. And quick, borrow my shirt," a different boy said. I took it and slipped it on over my training outfit, grateful that he offered. Then we left the Games building. I made random chat with the people, pretending to fit in while also being background noise, and then they split off from me.

"I'll try to remember you all when I come back!" I yelled to all the Capitolites as they left. Then I walked off. I had no idea where I wanted to go, but I had a small idea of the Capitol's layout from the last Games. I walked around mostly aimlessly, after I sprinted to the President's mansion. I wanted to see that, and see if I could spot anyone odd. It was rumored that someone was living with the President now, but I didn't see anyone.

Someone did, however, see me. I heard a yell from behind me, and someone walked up to me.

"What are you doing out here? HOW are you out here? You belong in the Games Building," Cordelia Stuart yelled at me. I couldn't stop myself from laughing, especially when I noticed that she was just pretending to be mad.

"Sorry. I'll go back now," I said, putting my hands up in fake submission. She nodded.

"I'll escort you."

* * *

 **Omri Rakesh (17) D6M**

I trained with a scythe, but it was only halfhearted. I was hoping to show off that I was decent with a scythe to all of the tributes, and I was keeping an eye on the other tributes at all times. I wanted to know what they were doing and where they were at all times, so I would be prepared to respond to any dumb threats or approaches they made. I didn't figure anyone would really approach me, but I was also keeping an eye on what alliances were forming, and where the Careers were. When they went off to lunch, I waited five minutes, and then I went off, too.

"May I sit here?" I asked all of the Careers in general. I would have asked whoever seemed to be the leader, but none of them seemed to really stick out to me. They were all talking with each other politely, exchanging ideas quietly amongst themselves. Naturally, they were quiet when I was right with them, but I had heard their muttering from a few feet away.

Polaris looked around at everyone, and when no one objected, he nodded. "What do you need?" he asked, and I sat down.

"I want to be part of the Pack this year. I know it's out of the ordinary for Six kids to join, but I'm pretty strong, and I'm street smart. I'll be of use," I said, pretending that I was totally calm. Joining the Career Pack would make me a hundred times safer for a while, and then double the danger I was in. It was a risk to even ask, but I figured it was a risk worth taking.

"We were actually just discussing that. Althea, your partner, asked if she could join as well. What do all of you think?" Polaris asked the Careers. I waited nervously for them to speak. Either option came with pros and cons. They had to be weighing their options, too. If they didn't take her and me, we'd probably ally. We wouldn't be a huge threat, but if they were even considering accepting us, then we must be somewhat useful.

"I think it'd be okay. I like Althea. She made an influence," Havanna said. Polaris nodded, and I figured he was as interested as we were.

"I think it's fine. We could always use more numbers," Edric said. Bridgette and Swift nodded, and just like that, I was a Career.

"You get to give the news to Althea," Havanna said. I figured she just didn't want to stop eating, but I was okay with that. I wouldn't be their messenger forever, but I would do it for now.

Althea wasn't easy to find. She was at the shelter station, hiding in the back and seeming to focus entirely on her shelter. It was a good way to train, but I didn't know how she managed to give herself so completely to her work. Whatever the reason, I had to break her concentration.

"Hey Althea! I have a message from the Careers," I said, sitting down by her. She looked up at me, anxiety clear in her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You're in the Pack, and so am I. Pretty neat, isn't it?"

"Oh my gosh. That's great! Congratulations, Omri!" Althea seemed more excited for me than she did for herself, and I thought that was pretty nice. She seemed like a sweet girl, so I hoped she would do well.

"You too! I've gotta go eat lunch now, but enjoy being a Career." I didn't know how to keep a conversation going, but I did know how to eat. I also knew that it wouldn't be unwise to try and cram in some extra calories before I went into the Arena. Althea would understand that, so it would be a totally valid reason to leave the conversation without creating any awkwardness. I had to go celebrate.

* * *

 **Althea Fender (16) D6F**

I had to sit down. I had to make myself calm down after what had just happened. I was a Career? That couldn't be possible. I had asked on a whim, figuring I may as well shoot my shot. What was the worst that could happen, after all? And then there I was, in the biggest, strongest alliance in the Arena. I would be safe for a while, but I was also dead meat. I couldn't live through the inevitable split. I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't plan for something that wasn't supposed to be possible in the first place.

Luckily, I knew where I could go to calm down. The Capitol was a place for beauty, so it was bound to have something I could go to. I asked around a little bit, and plenty of Capitolites were willing to help me out, so I was quickly headed for a garden. It was on the ground floor, and part of it was out on a balcony, so it was one of few places where I could really be outside and really feel sunlight on me. It was exactly what I needed to feel like I was safe for just a little bit, because it would be just like the shop at home. I found it and sat in it, lying down on a little patch of ground where there weren't many flowers. I didn't want to crush them.

The smells of the garden calmed me down quite quickly, and it was nice and warm in the garden. I got up, finally having the thrill and fear of the moment pass me, and walked around. I wanted to see everything of what was bound to be the most grand room in the Games Building before I had to leave. I smelled every type of flower I walked by, and I touched a lot of the petals. They were soft, and they really were lovely. They reminded me of my dad, which almost made me cry. I hadn't been gone for a week and I missed him already.

 _Sorry I'm gonna die, Dad. You don't deserve this crud._ As that thought ran through my head, my eyes blurred up. I kept walking, trying to pretend that I wasn't crying, when someone stopped me.

"All you all right, hun?" I tried to take in the person that was talking to me. She had a big, white afro, and pale purple skin. She was odd, but she was as pretty as the flowers I was surrounded by.

"Kind of, I guess. I'm just going through a lot right now," I said, sitting down again. I landed on a flower, but hardly cared. I wanted to bawl, but that would ruin my image. I wouldn't be surprised if the Careers kicked me out if I bawled. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't care.

"Well what's up? I bet it's nothing I can't help with," the girl said, sitting down beside me. She seemed really nice, and I found myself trusting her.

"I'm about to die, and I might kill a bunch of kids beforehand."

"So you're a tribute."

"Yes! And gosh. I've hardly cried so far, and now here I am, bursting into tears because I saw some nice flowers. They just reminded me of my dad, and I'll probably never get back to him..." I put my face in my hands and cried. I didn't need to keep up my image. I needed to let all of my emotions out.

The Capitolited hugged me. I didn't know what to think of it. Her shirt was really soft, which was nice, but I wasn't expecting it. I pulled away a little at first, then leaned into it. I _did_ need a hug. I needed to forget about all of life for a while, and she was helping me with that.

"Now let's go to your room," the woman said, standing up. "I'm sure you don't really want to break down in public, and we can get food there. It's frowned upon in the garden. Who are you, anyways?"

"I'm Althea. Thanks for the hug."

"It's no problem. I'm Sunset, and until you're in the Arena, I'm your official guide to the best comfort food the Capitol has to offer."

* * *

 **Aaaand here's the secret I've been low-key keeping for months now (I'm guessing)! Six has joined the Pack. I can officially change that on the list now that it's been unveiled, but I thought it would be neat to introduce it in a chapter.**

 **About Rialta not being here: She's not a Career! She's actually looking for allies, if anyone's interested.**


	21. Lovebirds

**Forrest Wonderland (15) D7M**

After training, I headed to my room. I fully intended to explore the Games Building with Sylvia at some point, but we had both agreed that we could spend the first day after training just chilling in our rooms, trying to process our thoughts and not freak out. We had had a while to think, but after training, and watching the Careers dominate their stations, I really needed another day to accept my fate. By the looks of it, Sylvia could, too, and I was happy to have the day to myself without having to abandon my girlfriend.

A cup dropped to the ground when I entered my room. Some woman was staring right at me, and although I didn't know her, it was a bit like I was looking in a mirror. She shooed off the other Avoxes that were supposed to be waiting on me, and when she reached for a piece of paper, I realized that she was an Avox herself. I didn't know why any Avox would recognize me, unless they were just starstruck to be working with a tribute, but I went over to see what she had written. She seemed utterly frantic, her handwriting super sloppy and her hands shaking as she tried to wave me over.

 _I can't stay long or say much, but I'm your mother, Forrest. I didn't know this was the Seven room! I'm so, so proud of you. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of you longer, but the Capitol didn't really appreciate me illegally moving to Seven. I love you so much, Forrest, and you're doing a great job. I'll keep loving you whatever the Games do to you._

I hardly processed anything the note said after _"but I'm your mother."_ This Avox was my _mom?_ I had always known my parents, the Chesires, weren't my real ones, but I never would have thought that my mom was still alive in the Capitol.

"You're really my mom?" I asked, unable to believe it. This had to be a cruel joke. But she looked so much like me, I couldn't quite believe that, either.

 _Yes. I wish I could hug you, but that'd just get me killed. I'll keep an eye on you in the Games, okay? I would send you stuff, but I don't have money. I love you, my sweet little baby._

My mom left right after she wrote that. I got the feeling she was in trouble. Avoxes probably weren't supposed to write things down. I laid down on my bed, suddenly overjoyed that Sylvia wasn't coming to chill with me tonight. I had enough to think about with just dying. Now I had a mother to return to? I didn't know what to make of it. I already had a mother. Now I had two, and soon I'd have none.

* * *

 **Sylvia Blanc (15) D7F**

On the second day of training, Forrest wanted to walk around the Games Building. I was happy with that decision. My room had been a bit boring. I had mostly accepted that I was going to die, and I was fine with that. I wouldn't want to live if it meant killing Forrest. That being said, I hadn't had to much to think about in my room, other than trying to figure out how to make sure Forrest would win. Forrest obviously had.

"Like, I don't know for sure. Maybe she's just lying. But she risked her neck to write that down for me, and she looks so much like me. She's gotta be my mother. But what do I even do with that knowledge? I don't know. If I die, nothing. I'll live in Seven if I win. I won't even be able to talk to her. It's not like she'd get permission to write letters. I probably shouldn't even tell you she told me," Forrest was saying. I watched him, calmly considering everything he said. That _did_ seem like a lot of stress. I, for one, knew who my mother was, and I knew that she was executed for being rebellious. Forrest never had that type of closure.

"That sounds hard. I think it's good that you know. Maybe we should sit down while we talk this over," I said, worried about Forrest. He seemed very stressed, and he kept running his hands through his hair. He never was the fainting type, but I worried he might faint when something that stressful happened. It was a lot for him to handle, and even I had a little bit of a hard time being my normal quiet, supportive self.

"Yeah. All right, let's do that. I hardly even got any training done... Gosh. Do you know where you want to go?"

"I don't really care. We can go wherever you want. I think you could use the comfort food more than I could," I said, latching onto his arm. He led me to an ice cream shoppe, and we both looked at the menu. I knew Forrest would order first, because he was always the better decision-maker of us. I normally followed in his footsteps.

"Could I get some mint chocolate chip, gone fishin', and cow tracks? I don't know what those are, but they look cool. And some of those hundreds and thousands? And some whipped cream, please," Forrest said, and I admired his politeness. The worker probably wasn't used to Capitolites being that nice.

"Of course! Coming right up. And what can I get for the lovely lady?" the worker replied.

I almost immediately said that I wanted the same. Then I considered for a bit. I didn't really want mint or chocolate. "Could I get the strawberry, with chocolate sauce and hundreds and thousands?"

"Of course! Enjoy."

Forrest took his ice cream and sat down. "That's not like you. Usually we get the same thing! I never knew you liked strawberry ice cream."

"Neither did I."

* * *

 **So. I write tributes in order of District, going through alliances. Then I do a loner chapter. Right now I have about ten tributes that are seeking allies, and I only have three alliances. If you want anyone with your tributes, PM me and I'll see what I can do (or PM whoever you want directly). Otherwise, I'll start pairing people up so I don't end up with fourteen loners.**


	22. Oddballs

**Excel Witijenn (13) D3M**

For once in my life, I was being smart. I suppose, I was really being smart outside of math. I had always been smart there. Still, I had taken an idea and formed it into a complete plan so that my life could be better. Any of my teachers would have been proud that I had taken something so many people would consider a weakness, that being how anti-social I could be, and turned it into a definite strength - smuggling.

I knew some things about morphling. It was highly addictive, and the withdrawal was awful. Some people even died. I hadn't really been hooked long enough for my withdrawal to be that bad, I hoped, but it could definitely pose a problem. That was why I was bringing my morphling with me. I could recognize that it would be a weakness to be drugged up during the Games, but dying because I didn't have my drugs in my system would also be quite the weakness.

"Hey, kid. What's up?" someone asked. I didn't know what he was talking about, but he was looking at me pretty suspiciously, so I decided I wasn't going to talk to him.

"Excel, that's your name, right? You're the Three male. Pretty quiet, changes in the bathroom instead of the locker room, keeps nervously touching his pockets and saying things to himself. If you don't mind my mentioning it, that's a bit suspicious," the guy said, not giving up. I didn't look at him. Even if he wasn't creepy, I didn't like looking at people.

"I don't mean to be creepy, but I know what a syringe looks like in someone's pocket. I've used my fair share of them in my life. And I know how bad of a drug morphling can be. Could you please give me the drugs and we'll find a way to get you a bit healthier before the Games?"

I still didn't look at the guy. He could talk to me as much as he wanted. I was a social outcast who didn't talk to anyone, so me staring at the wall instead of talking to this person wouldn't come off as suspicious at all.

He walked up to me. The guy walked up to me. I walked away. I wasn't dealing with this situation. He grabbed onto my arm.

"Please listen. I used to be hooked on morphling. It almost got me when I was in the Games last year. I cannot explain enough how important it is for you to get off it, or how important your health is before the Games."

"What makes you think I have morphling?" I asked.

"I work with people who have chemical dependencies. I know a lot of the signs. I used to have a chemical dependency. Please, let me try and get you the proper medical care you need before the Games."

"Who even are you?" I asked. I didn't want to talk to him, but this conversation needed to be redirected.

"I'm Rodney Sanchez, last year's Victor."

* * *

 **Turbo White (15) D5M**

Much to my surprise, someone had chosen to ally with me. I had been hoping that I could have an ally, but I didn't really think I would attract anyone. Excel seemed like a good person for me to ally with, though. He was pretty quiet, so I didn't have to work too hard to listen to him, and he didn't really fit in with the crowd, just like I didn't. I hoped I could be useful to him in the Games, mostly because I knew he would be useful, and I didn't want to be a freeloader.

"Would you like to see something that's really fun?" I asked Excel. He hadn't really said much the entire time we had been sitting together, relaxing after the Training Center had closed for the night. I was relaxing my arms after lifting weights for a while, and Excel was relaxing his brain after learning how to purify water. I knew I would have a hard time remember all those steps.

Excel nodded. That seemed to be pretty normal of him. He hadn't said anything since he asked to be my ally, and I thought he had just been lonely at the time. He was stuck with me until he said he didn't want me, though. I wouldn't notice if he tried to drop hints.

"Then follow me!" I walked over to the nearest elevator and pushed the down button. It didn't really matter which way the elevator was going, because I wasn't going anywhere in particular, so it didn't really matter which button I pushed. We let some Capitolites get out of the elevator, after they crowded us for a while, and then we got on.

"I'm glad they're gone. You looked uncomfortable," I said to Excel. I didn't know exactly what was up with the kid, but he didn't really seem to be a people person.

"I don't like people. I can't read them and they're loud and scary," he replied. I was surprised. Excel hadn't said a sentence that long to me yet.

"That's all right. You don't have to socialize for this," I said, pressing every button on the elevator. I waited for the right second, then jumped just as the elevator started to go down. By the time I hit the elevator it had gone down, so it felt like I was flying for a second.

When we hit the next floor, Excel looked at me. I didn't know why, so I assumed he was confused. "You jump right when the elevator's about to go down, and it feels like you're floating. I'll count for you. 3... 2... 1... Jump!" I had figured out how long it took the elevators to go pretty easily, since they were timed, just like the conveyor belts at home. I was very pleased that I got to be the teacher.

We kept doing that until we hit the first floor, when I hit all the buttons again. This time we landed a little too quickly, since the elevator went up before we landed. Excel smiled, which made me very happy. He didn't smile too much either. It seemed like I would be good for him whether I was really useful or not.

* * *

 **Surprise! I'm still around. Sorry about how long it took me to get this chapter out; I wasn't really inspired, so I ~procrastinated~.**

 **Excel requested this scene, which I thought was neat. Go Rodney!**


	23. Mere Mortals

**Tori Harris (18) D9F**

I needed an ally. As much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't get through the Games on my own. Admittedly, I wasn't entirely sure how much I wanted to get through the Games, but I was going to at least try to leave until I knew for sure that I didn't. So, I had to find someone I was interested in allying with that was interested in allying with me. That would be a bit of a struggle. I needed someone who wasn't a jerk or a dirtbag who brought some skills to the table.

Luckily, I had made a list. I knew I didn't want a male ally. I had had enough crud from boys in my days. Girls could cause drama, but boys could do worse. I also knew all the Careers were out of the question, and Sylvia had found an ally. Amelia had found an ally, Saige seemed to have more baggage than I could mentally handle, and Nyra and Appalachia had allies. That left Margherita and Rialta. I decided I didn't care which one I would ally with, so I would just approach whoever I saw first.

I wandered around the Training Center, spending some time at the throwing knives station. Surprisingly few people were there, and I figured it was worth a try. It was difficult, like any weapon would be, but I figured I would be able to handle it. I had to learn something, after all. I may as well focus on something useful.

After a while, Rialta wandered over to the station and picked up a knife. She threw it expertly, hitting the center of the target. I walked over to her, since she wasn't in the Pack and she was already on the list of allies.

"How would you like an ally?" I asked. I decided I may as well be blunt. I was doing this solely strategically; I didn't need any emotional support. She would be doing things strategically, too, if she allied. After all, Rialta was no outlier. She was a Career.

Rialta spooked and looked at me. "Me?" she asked, not really making eye contact. I didn't really care. I just needed an ally.

"Yes, you. I'm strong," I lied. I wasn't that good of an ally, but only an idiot would say that. "You're strong. We'd make a good team."

"Yeah, sure, I guess," Rialta replied. She seemed somewhat disinterested, and she went back to her knives. "Meet me after training today, okay?"

"Sure! I'm game," I said, not really caring why I had to meet her. I had an ally, easy as that.

* * *

 **Rialta Vernell (18) D4F**

"So, what are we doing?" Tori asked me when we met after training. I looked over at her, not sure exactly how to explain what was going on. It was something interesting, that was for sure.

"When I was younger, my sister got married and moved to the Capitol. We never thought we'd see each other again, but when I volunteered, I flashed her a sign. I'm not sure if she saw it, but I just quickly signed what we agreed on when she left - 'Meet me night three at the first store on the left when you enter the bottom floor of the Games building.' Of course, I didn't have time to sign that all fluidly, so I just threw it up there and hoped she knew that I tried. We're heading for that store right now, so I'm hoping she meets me," I said, deciding just to dump everything. We were wasting time on something that might or might not even work, but I had to hope it would.

We were sitting in a multi-culture restaurant, looking around at the food without really ordering anything. I didn't really want to talk to the waiter, and Tori didn't seem to want to talk to the waiter, so we just awkwardly lurked at a table. The waiter didn't mind, because we were good publicity, so we just sad there.

"Oh my gosh, it is you! Ria?" I heard from behind me. I knew the voice immediately, and I knew that Ryana would definitely call me by that nickname. I jumped up from my chair and turned around, immediately hugging my older sister.

"I've missed you so much! Why didn't you ever visit? I'm so glad you got the sign," I said, speaking freely to one of the few people I bothered talking to. Most people in Four didn't get me, but Ryana definitely did. I was a sister thing.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Ri. I didn't even need to see it! I heard you volunteer and I knew you'd be here. I can't believe I finally got to see you again! Anyways, I couldn't get back. We've been super busy, and it can actually be hard for a District-born Capitolite to travel back to the District. Some officials really don't like it," Rya explained. I didn't really care about her explanation. I knew she had a good reason. I just didn't know what to say.

"Ry, this is my ally, Tori. We're sticking together throughout this. You need to sponsor me so much. How have you and Brayden been? Do you want to get something to eat?" I asked, sitting down again after pulling out a chair for my sis. Tears were springing into my eyes. I loved her so much. Going into a death battle was that much more worth it because of her.

* * *

 **Surrrrprise! I'm still here. Ria's submitter seemed unsure of whether this would get written, but I take pretty much whatever I get. So now Ri has a sister, Ry! Anyways, I paired these two up because one's depressed and one's obsessed with death. If either submitter doesn't like this pairing, PM me and I'll split them up, no harmed feelings.**


	24. Young and Young at Heart

**Caddis Hibbett (12) D8M**

I knew my strengths, and I knew my weaknesses. Really, I knew my lack of strengths and my abundance of weaknesses, and I knew that there wasn't much I could do about either in the span of a week. I knew I was going to focus on survival skills while I was training, but while I wasn't in the Training Center, I wasn't going to train like some tributes, mainly Careers, would. I was going to make the best of what would likely be the last week of my life, with a new friend I had just met.

Robin didn't say much. I couldn't figure out why, because he wouldn't write it out on a piece of paper. I didn't know what was up with that, but I didn't really mind. I could tell what he was thinking by his facial expressions, which he definitely exaggerated to make himself easier to understand, and that was enough for me. He'd make weird hand motions to explain some things to me, and when I was talking, he'd react through pure body language. It worked for me.

Robin also wasn't pushy, which I liked. I knew exactly what I wanted to do the first day, and he did it with me. We went to a pottery class together, and I helped him figure everything out. I knew a bit about pottery from my grandpa, but we didn't have the fancy wheels and tools the Capitol had. They had knives and tools designed specifically for clay, while we had popsicle sticks that we had fished out of rich people dumpsters. It got the job done, and it was totally free, so neither of us minded the work.

"All right, people! Today, we're making simple vases. We'll teach you how to center the clay and how to shape the vase. Choose a partner, and we'll help you work," the instructor said. I listened to her absentmindedly, getting a feel for the clay while she was talking. She was showing us specific ways to do everything, but I was trying to feel and understand the clay. That was the way grandpa taught me to do it. Robin was watching her carefully, absorbing every word she said.

When we finally got to sit down at the wheel, I didn't have a problem centering the clay. I could just tell where it was supposed to go, oddly enough. I had to work with a bit, and then it just worked. Then I made a vase. I let myself be completely focused on the work, forgetting that anybody else was even there until I was done. Finally, I was, with a complete, beautiful vase, and I could help Robin work on his.

Robin had a harder time than I did. He made sure his clay was perfectly centered, while I didn't care. Then he kept working at it and working at it until it almost perfectly matched what the instructor had shown us, while I was content with what had happened. He looked scared every time he messed up, and I tried to show him how to not care. He was so tense. There was no point in that. Either we were untouchable or we were dead.

* * *

 **Robin "Mute" Ceviros (18) D11M**

I liked Caddis. He didn't look at me as a freak because I had a huge scar up my face. He didn't ask me why I didn't talk, or stare at me whenever I flinched when the clay didn't work out. He just quietly helped me figure out what I was doing wrong, without hurting me or anything. I wasn't used to anyone being that nice. After growing up with Paul my whole life, I was expecting him to hit me at every turn, even though I was way bigger than he was. He didn't.

I found myself growing attached to Caddis surprisingly quickly, already having great affection for someone I just met. I let him lead me wherever he wanted to go, since nothing he did was dangerous. Caddis wasn't dangerous. I didn't mind that he never asked me what I wanted to do, since I had no way to tell him what I wanted to do. I just let him decide everything, following the leader like I always did.

Then Caddis broke pattern. He turned to me one day after training, asking, "What do you want to do today?" I had no idea how to answer that. Nobody ever cared what I wanted to do. Nobody cared about my thoughts or opinions, so I never really had any. I had to think for a good while before I decided what I wanted to do, and even then, I knew it was an unconventional wish.

Holding my hand out like a piece of paper, I made squiggly motions across it, pretending to be writing on my hand. He looked at me for a while, cocking his head. I pretending to be reading a book, showing him what I really wanted to do. It probably didn't matter, since I would probably be dead soon, but it seemed important.

"You don't know how to read? That explains why you don't write notes or anything. I can help with that," Caddis said, leading me to his room. He picked out a bunch of snacks, this time asking me what I wanted and telling me what every button said. "Sorry I never asked before. I assumed you would choose whatever you wanted," he said, seeming totally sincere. I shrugged.

"Okay. First, here's the alphabet," Caddis said, quickly jotting out a bunch of nonsense. I counted twenty-six things, and I knew they were letters, but they meant absolutely nothing to me. Caddis looked at my face, which I knew very clearly showed confusion - if I couldn't write or talk, I had to get my feelings across somehow - and he explained. "This is an 'A'. It says "ah" or "aye." This is a 'B'. It says "buh." This is a "C". It says 'kuh' or 'sssss.'" I understood that, and I shoved the knowledge into my brain. I wasn't too smart, but I could remember things well.

"So here's your name," Caddis said, writing it out. I stared at it, then tried to write it like he did. I couldn't figure out how to hold the pencil, but he showed me, and I practiced it over and over again. Caddis helped me, saying, "'R'-'O'-'B'-'I'-'N'" with every letter I wrote. They weren't nearly as nice as Caddis', but they were letters. That was plenty for me.

* * *

 **Iiii finally got another chapter! I'll probably have Robin learn how to read unrealistically quickly in order to make him actually learn by the time the Games start. We'll see where it goes.**

 **Census time! I'm curious about who's still reading (I don't hate you or anything if you're not, but curiosity's a thing), so please send me a PM with:  
**

 **A vote for who you want to win**

 **A vote for who you definitely don't want to win**

 **and your tribute's theme song (if you have one).**

 **This isn't necessary, it won't necessarily affect the outcome of the Games, and I won't kill your tribute yet just because you don't PM me. I just want to get an idea of who's still around, and learn theme songs.**

 **Question of the day that really isn't daily: Is it sharptooths or sharpteeth?**


	25. Sister from Another Mister

**Amelia "Amy" Songbird (14) D8F**

Life in the Capitol was better than life in the District. None of the kids or Capitolites knew me, so they didn't judge me for being rich while they starved. That was good. It wasn't my fault I was rich. Some kids even smiled at me, or started conversations with me. I didn't really know how to keep conversations going, since I never got to practice that at home, but I tried my best. People seemed to appreciate it. However, I was learning that I needed time to cool down after conversations, something I never would have learned in Eight.

My room was a great place for a cool-down. I had asked for a whole bunch of dresses to be made for me, asking for no particular style. I didn't really care what I was presented with. I just wanted some time to chill and do a runway walk all by myself, giving myself a morale boost and a confidence boost. Really, I just said those last parts so I didn't feel silly trying on a bunch of brand new dresses right before a death battle, but I pretended I didn't know that. For a little bit, I got to be a pretty princess without having to hide it from my community.

The first dress I saw was a giant pink ballgown. It was just my size, which made sense. The Capitol had designed it specifically for me. It didn't look great on me, since pink wasn't really my color. It didn't match my skin tone well. The next one was a dark blue mermaid, which I loved, even though it was nothing I would ever wear out in public. It didn't have a back! How weird was that?

I spent an endless amount of time going through the dresses. There were dresses of every style and every color, even some made out of fabrics that I, and Eight, didn't recognize. It was amazing. The Capitol was giving someone of no value to them more clothing than I had ever been able to afford in Eight, and all of it was a perfect fit for me. This couldn't be reused. It was just for me.

When I looked up at the clock, I realized it was already nine. I had been so absorbed in my dresses that I had forgotten to eat! I hoped Caddis wouldn't be mad at me for skipping out on supper. He was such a nice kid. I had to order supper by myself now, since I really didn't want to wake him up. We all needed all the sleep we could get.

It was almost fitting that I ate supper by myself. It was delicious Capitol food, steaks and turkeys, fruit juice and milk at my fingertips. I chose a salad. After all the time I had spent trying on dresses, I was feeling guilty. Kids in my grade had slaved over the fabric that was put into those dresses. Kids from Ten and Eleven made all the food I was eating. I never had to work like they did. I just lived off of their sacrifice.

* * *

 **Lorenk Pritchett (16) D9M**

I knew where I needed to go in the Training Center. I was a big, strong Nine. Nobody but a Career would attack me, and if a Career did, I would be screwed whether or not I focused on weapons for a whole long week. As a Nine, I knew a bit about surviving. I knew how to go long, hard days without food, and I was used to going hours under the scorching sun without water. What I didn't know was how to move well. I could lift heavy things, and I knew how to maneuver objects, but I couldn't maneuver myself.

That was how I ended up on the obstacle course, climbing ropes and hopping from one place to the next, trying to avoid all the spinning doohickeys that were trying to knock me off my path. The course went all the way up to the ceiling, with a net stretched beneath me, stretched across the whole ceiling, and went all the way back down to the ground across the room. It was a real workout just staying on it, so I knew I had to stay focused. That was hard when I saw a short little blonde girl that looked just like home.

She saw me looking at her and wandered over to the obstacle course. I made my way down, slipping and falling when I missed a handhold. I landed in the net and she gasped, just like my sister would have. Then I rolled out of the net and down to the ground, standing up next to her.

"What's your name?" I asked her, knowing she wouldn't reply Lorena. She wasn't my sister. She just looked a lot like her.

"Amelia. Who are you?" Amelia replied.

I was at a loss. I had intended to get through the whole Games without any allies. I wanted to be a warrior, just trying to survive, and now there was one kid I couldn't kill. I couldn't live with myself if I practically killed my baby sister. I couldn't live with myself if I let her die. "I'm Lorenk. Are you looking for allies?"

She looked amazed when I offered that. It took her a couple of seconds to gather herself before she finally replied, saying, "Why would you want to ally with me? I'm just some dumb rich kid." I realized right then that her life was nothing like mine, and that she was going to be nothing like my sister, but logic didn't win out over emotion.

"You remind me of someone from home. I want to make sure you can get through the Games," I said, not making eye contact. How embarrassing. I was allying with someone who would definitely drag me down just because my dumb heart wanted me to.

"I definitely want an ally, and I _will_ help you through these Games," Amelia replied. She looked like she was trying to convince herself, but I didn't care. I didn't care whether or not she was useful at all. I just knew that I had to make sure she lived.

* * *

 **I had to pair tributes up somehow, so this happened.**

 **Don't forget to send in check-ins!**


	26. The Lion and the Mouse

**Derwin Ciervo (17) D10M**

I knew where I belonged in the Capitol. I was a Ten, and I was going to go where most Tens probably went at least once. The Training Center, of course, at first, but after that, I went where every Ten would feel at home: A zoo. It seemed like a cliche to me that I would go there, but it also made sense. Zoos were my heart of being. I lived off and with animals. Of course I would visit them when I was nearing my dying hours.

It took me a while to find a zoo. I figured there had to be one somewhere in the Training Center, what with all the other things there were, but I didn't know where. I checked around for guides or signs, but finally, I had to give up and ask some Capitolites. They had me sign a bunch of stuff and asked some questions, then told me what floor to go to and where. I didn't know how they could possibly know their way around so easily, but they had probably been there more than I had.

The zoo was nothing like I could have ever imagined. There were animals that looked like super tall horses, and huge cats with furry necks. There were stubby, stout four-legged animals with nasty teeth, and tons of fish. I thought about how few of the giant grey animals with trunks we could raise and live off of, and how many of the cute little squirrely things it would take to survive. There were such a variety of animals that I felt like I would never have time to see them all.

Despite all of the beautiful animals I found in the zoo, I was drawn towards the ones that reminded me of home. There was a section of more normal, domestic-looking animals that we were allowed to pet, and I wanted to pet the one that looked like a sheep with a long neck. The sign said its name was a "Llama," and I sure as heck didn't know how to pronounce that, but I knew it looked just like Choppy, my sheep. I hugged its soft neck, and it didn't fight me. It actually seemed to like it, letting me put my face in its fur. That let me relax, forgetting everything about the Games and thinking only about home.

At least, it did for a while. Until I heard someone yelling at another person, which scared both me and the llama. Being the curious person I was, I went over to investigate. What I saw amazed me. There was a boy, much smaller and younger than I was, that was riding one of the giant grey things. I couldn't fathom how he had gotten over the fence without notice, or how he had managed to climb onto something that would've given me, a regular horseback rider, problems, but I knew that he was causing a fuss. And I knew that I was in awe at his feat.

* * *

 **Orrick Jasso (14) D12M**

Sometimes, I played harmless little pranks. They took days or weeks of planning, and they usually took support from other people. I wasn't rich enough to get many supplies, so I had to have a little help. Sometimes, I did things with less planning. An opportunity placed itself in front of me, and I found myself with no choice but to take it. I could recognize my bad judgment and impulsiveness, but I didn't really care about it. Especially when I saw a sign advertising what was supposedly the largest land animal in the world, and the Capitol was making it very clear that you weren't supposed to touch it.

So I did. It wasn't entirely impulsive, because it took a lot of planning to get around the guards and fences. I had to make a big fuss around the lions, to get the guards to care less about the elephants. Then I had to climb the wooden fence by wedging my fingers between the boards and hoisting myself up. I climbed the steel fence by wedging myself between that and the wooden fence and shimmying up, and then I was to the final stage of my trial: Actually getting on the elephant.

I knew that I looked nothing like the Capitol zookeepers, so I couldn't try and tame one that way. Instead, I went for a tactic that always worked for the dogs in Eleven. I leaned over as far as I felt I could safely, then pretended to throw food on the ground. One of the animals looked over at me, then it ignored me again. I remember the sign saying they were smart, but I didn't know they were that smart. So I opted for the hard way instead of the smart way. I shimmied around the fence and hopped onto the animal closest to me.

The elephant didn't seem to notice that I was on it. I figured it was because I was light compared to the giant beast. However, the zookeepers certainly did notice me. They started screaming at me to get down, telling me how much trouble I was in. I didn't really care. I was probably gonna die in a week. I would go out with a bang.

"Hey! He's with me. I'll handle him," I heard someone yell. I looked down to see another tribute, but he was pretending to be an adult.

"Yeah! He'll make sure I'm good," I yelled, jumping off the elephant. I landed horribly, probably spraining one of my ankles, but it was fun. Then I climbed out the way I climbed in, watching the boy seem amazed at what I had done.

We quickly left, power-walking out. We pretended it was because we had places to be, but we were just trying to maintain composure. "I don't do things like that! I can't believe I got involved. How'd you do that, though?" the boy asked me.

"It wasn't that hard. I distracted the guards, climbed the fences, and jumped from the fence to the elephant. I'm Orrick, by the way," I replied.

"Hi! I'm Derwin. Are you looking for allies?" I could tell right then that Derwin was kind of awkward, but I didn't care. He seemed cool, and I was in life for the fun of it.

"Of course I am! Join me and you'll be in for a wild ride."

* * *

 **Surprise! Two chapters in two days. We have one more alliance, the loners, and then interviews! We're getting close :D**


	27. Fighters

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

Any good army needs soldiers. My mom and my dad taught me that for years. They didn't like the way I implemented that knowledge, but I knew they would approve of my current strategy. I needed to get myself some allies, or I would definitely die. I didn't know for sure who those allies would be, but I had some rules. They couldn't love the Capitol, though they could be neutral. They had to be somewhat useful. Most importantly, though, they had to be fighters. Anyone worth allying with would have grit.

I looked around the stations while I trained with poisonous plants. I was trying to spot the people that looked like they had survived something. I passed over the Careers immediately. I didn't want them and they wouldn't want me. I passed over any pairs, because it was never good to be the third in the alliance. I realized quickly that I didn't have many options, but when I spotted a scrawny little girl that looked like I could snap her in half like a toothpick, I decided to value quality over quantity.

Walking over to the knife station, I noted how well the tribute seemed to be progressing. She definitely had an idea what she was doing, even if her aim wasn't perfect. She was impressive.

"Hey! I'm Nyra. How would you like to tear up the Arena with me?" I asked the kiddo. She looked at me suspiciously, then slowly replied.

"I'm Appalachia. What do you mean by that?" the girl said, going back to her knife throwing. I sighed.

"Well, mostly, I mean that I think that we would make a good pair. You definitely look like a fighter - sorry to assume anything, but you're thin and pale, - and that's exactly what I need. I'm a fighter, too. I know my values and I know how much they matter. It would also be cool if we literally tore up the Arena," I said, almost laughing at my own joke, "but I meant figuratively." I waited patiently for Appalachia's response. I could be a loner if I had to, but that wasn't the best case scenario.

"We can ally. I don't have a lot of values, but I want to survive. Help me and I'll help you," Appalachia replied. Then she went back to her knives. I wandered a way off to the other knife-throwing station, hoping she would be more open to conversation later. For now, she seemed intent on learning, and I was going to let her. I could learn my own knife while still being near her.

* * *

 **Appalachia Sooner (12) D12F**

I didn't know why Nyra approached me. I didn't know why she wanted to ally with me, even after she had explained her reasons. Even more so, I didn't understand why she wanted to be my friend. I wanted friends as much as the next person, but I wasn't talkative. I didn't have good social skills. I didn't even know how to share properly, and the first shower I took in years was the day I got to the Capitol. Yet Nyra insisted on talking to me and bringing me places. She dragged me around the Games Building whenever training wasn't allowed, forcing me to be happy.

That was the main thing I wasn't good at. Nyra was the yin to my yang. She seemed like she was happy, but she wouldn't necessarily be able to survive an Arena. She had the mindset for it, but she hadn't really lived like I had. I wouldn't miss a beat in the Arena, since I would probably end up getting more food than I was used to, but I hadn't been happy in as long as I could remember. Nyra was forcing me to remember how to do that, and I was actually trying to listen.

"All right. Have you ever eaten in a restaurant? Because you're going to learn how," Nyra said, leading me into a big, open restaurant. It had a frame made out of wood in a cool square shape, and we were told to wait until we were seated.

"Who hasn't eaten in a restaurant?" I asked, too ashamed to admit that I hadn't eaten in a restaurant. I was lucky that I could even read. I couldn't imagine that the average Ten had had much experience with restaurants, but I trusted she knew what she was doing.

"I've never eaten in this type of restaurant before," Nyra admitted once our server had seated us. "I just thought the flowers and wood looked really pretty, so I came in. Let's see what all stuff there is."

When I opened the menu, as Nyra said it was called, I had to reconsider what I had once thought about my ability to read. Very few of the words on the menu made sense to me. I recognized "soup," but the "Miso" before it meant nothing to be. I recognized "salad," but I couldn't imagine what "Calamari" meant. I looked over at Nyra for help, but she seemed equally confused.

"Let's just order what sounds cool," Nyra whispered. I tried to look through the menu, and I just chose what sounded cool. I could get whatever I wanted, since tributes ate free, and I intended to do just that.

When our waiter asked if we were ready to order, we were. I ordered the "Coke" and the "rainbow roll," as well as the "M-16 roll." Nyra ordered a "Shirley temple" and a "salmon roll," as well as an "eel avocado roll." I added a "sushi appetizer" at the last minute, because it sounded neat. Then I found myself snickering with Nyra about how dumb we must look, pretending to know what we were talking about.

We got our answer about everything we ordered as it was brought out. The Coke was a dark brown, fizzy drink, and the Shirley temple was a red fizzy drink. The sushi appetizer was a bunch of some form of raw meat on rice, and the rolls were rolls of other raw meat in rice and seaweed. The idea of raw meat grossed out Nyra, but I ate it. It was food, and the Capitol wouldn't poison a tribute.

Much to my delight, it was all delicious. I had no idea what it was, but it tasted like heaven on earth. Some was cold and some was hot. There was a weird spicy paste you could put on it, and a weird salty sauce you could use. Nyra tried it and seemed to like a bit, though she didn't eat it as ravenously as I did. I was elated. I had expected death, and instead, I had learned that I was still capable of having a favorite food.

* * *

 **Appalachia's POV is a bit longer, but I felt like it didn't matter because they were both involved.**

 **Anyways, just the loners, interviews, and then the Games stuff! We're only like four chapters away :D**


	28. Loners

**Eris Harmon (16) D2F**

The crop of tributes this year looked decent. That didn't mean too much to me, since most would be picked off by Careers, but it was still interesting to note. There were lots of strong outer-District tributes as well as Careers, so the Games would actually be a fun challenge. That made me more happy than scared. I wasn't in the Games to get in and get out, like I knew some people were. I was in the Games for the thrill of the fight, proving myself to be worthy of life, and I needed a strong group of competitors to do that.

I walked over to the Careers while they were training, politely watching them for a while before speaking up. "Wow! You look like you're really good at that," I said to Polaris as he practiced. I liked him, because I was like him. I trained for the Games and saw honor in them, dedicating my life to them just like he had. He was worthy of respect just because he was the top in his District.

Polaris gave me a wicked side-eye, so I left. If he was going to be like that, I didn't have to talk to him. I went over to Havanna, instead. She was working on poison darts, and she seemed to be having a fine time of it. She hit the target nearly all the time, and the assistant said her poisons were quite deadly. "Wow! You're doing great. Good luck in the Games," I said to her, smiling brightly. She glared at me and threw a dart near me. It missed, but I got the point, and I moved on to the other tributes.

Part of me wondered why I was doing what I was doing. I really did wish the tributes luck, because I wanted to have a good fight. I didn't want any of them to die of starvation, or to fall into a hole and break their neck. I did want them to die, though, which was what made my well-wishes such an enigma. I knew that it felt right to wish them good luck. I knew that it confused them, and I knew that none of them took me seriously. It didn't make any sense.

Finally, it clicked. I liked the confusion on every tribute's face when I spoke to them. My cheery good luck made them wonder what was wrong with me. Some of them were intrigued by me, but I wasn't going to ally with anyone. My standoffishness when I wasn't wishing them well proved that. I could watch each of them arguing with themselves, trying to decide whether or not I was being genuine. It was a shame nobody could answer that question for them.

* * *

 **Margherita Leiherr (14) D5F**

I didn't know a lot about the Capitol, but I knew one thing for sure: Fashion had no limits there. You could do whatever you wanted with your appearance, and nobody would really care. I didn't intend to change my appearance a lot while I was in the Capitol, but I did have some plans. I had more limits than the average Capitolite, due to my tribute status, but I didn't mind. I was just going out to get a new 'do.

Ovid Leek, my escort, had no such limits. She told me excitedly everything she planned to do while I was getting my hair done. She said she wanted to re-dye her skin and get fake nails, and maybe even get eyelash implants. She chattered away and I listened politely, only half paying attention. I wanted to think while I got my hair done, but I respected Ovid. She was willing to bring me here, so I could listen.

"What color are you going to get your hair? You know, you could almost do rainbow; you're so pale! It would contrast so nicely. Maybe you should do a fiery red. Now wouldn't that be cute?" Ovid asked, hopping from question to question before I had time to reply. She didn't want an answer, which I was grateful for. We were both having our hair washed, and I was sinking into relaxation, letting my thoughts run rampant.

 _What if you actually win the Games? You could buy so much stuff. Maybe you will. It's not impossible. Maybe you should get a pixie cut... It's advantageous... Nah, your hair is too valuable. Hair won't be the difference between life and death anyways._ I could have sat there, someone else washing my hair, for hours. It felt wonderful. I couldn't imagine anything better. But after a while, the Capitolite stopped the water, asking me what I wanted done.

"Hm..." I had to consider for a couple seconds, but I knew I wanted to help myself out. "I'd like about five inches off, please. And could you dye it black, with lighters spots, like the night sky? If it's possible," I said, trying to be very polite. I'd heard horror stories about how poorly customer service people were treated.

"No problem, darling!" Let's get right to work," the Capitolite replied. I found myself trusting her, since she was so polite and motherly towards me. She began to cut my hair, and it felt great to have the weight lift off little by little. Then she dyed my hair, doing it layers at a time. Finally, she gave me a mirror, letting me look at my new self. "So, how does it look?"

I cried. She had cut off closer to fifteen inches than five. The dye was lovely, and my hair looked nice. She had curled it and everything. But I couldn't get over the loss of my beautiful hair. It had gone to my calves, but now it only reached my mid-thighs. Ovid went over to me in horror.

"You look lovely! Why are you crying so much? Oh dear, make it a sob story. Get yourself some sponsors," Ovid said. She didn't know what was wrong, but I appreciated her trying to help.

* * *

 **Saige Lark (15) D11F**

I was bored. That was never a good thing. I always toed a fine line between mania and depression, trying my best to trigger neither. Boredom could easily lead to either. I would get the urge to do random things, and those things could trigger a mania, or I could get the urge to do absolutely nothing, making me want to stay doing nothing. That would lead to me slowly wanting to die. I didn't know everything about my condition, and I didn't fully believe that I wasn't normal, but I knew how my brain worked. It always followed that pattern that I wanted to avoid.

Mom and Dad had tried to give me ways to avoid triggering anything. They really cared about me, trying to keep me happy for the most part, before I killed Malcolm. They gave me tons of ways to stay in a careful calm, worried that one day I might do something dumb. Then I did that dumb thing, and they stopped giving me ways to stay calm. Instead, they ditched my in a detainment center, wanting to get rid of me. That didn't totally destroy me, though, because, despite their best efforts, I still knew how to stay calm.

The majority of my calming techniques didn't work for me, because I had used them so often. I couldn't just imagine myself into a happy place, or pretend I was petting a cat. I had to try something new, that I hadn't used to the point of being worthless. Ironically enough, Malcolm had given me an idea for one of those long ago, and I was willing to try it out. He had said that candy always cheered him up. I didn't know, because I rarely ate candy. I either gave him mine or didn't get any, so I didn't know much about it. I was going to find out.

A button on a machine by my bed said **Candy**. I clicked it. It listed a bunch of options. **Chocolate. Fruit. Salty. Sweet.** I couldn't be bothered to read them all. I could hardly be bothered to read four. I clicked **Chocolate** and looked through all the options, then just clicked on a bunch. I didn't know what was going to come out, since I hardly understood the words, but they all looked interesting.

Finally, candy started pouring out. I took one and ate it. It had nuts in the chocolate, and it tasted like heaven on earth. Exactly like I intended, it made me delighted. I took another, and this one had a sweet, sticky inside. I wished I could remember what button made that one, because it was delicious. They actually made me happy while I ate them, so I ate as many as I could. My stomach ached and I got hyper, but it was totally worth it. I was happy.

* * *

 **I lost my streak, but here we is! Next up: The private sessions. Good thing someone reminded me.**


	29. Private Session Report

**TOP SECRET**

 **TO: MS. PRESIDENT VISPASIAN GINGER**

 **FROM: HEAD GAMEMAKER DRACO STILLETO** and Cordelia Stuart

 **PRIVATE SESSION REPORT**

 **GAMES: 21ST**

 **TRIBUTES:**

* * *

 **DISTRICT ONE MALE**

 **NAME:** Polaris Flasher

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Fancy sword-fighting

 **ASSESSMENT:** Yep, that was fancy. As expected, Polaris was very good with his swords. He easily defeated our low-high level assistant, flaunting his skills the whole time. He used a lot of extravagant moves that would be useless in a fight, but likely to attract sponsors.

 **STRENGTHS:** Sword-fighting, strong alliance, likely to attract allies

 **WEAKNESSES:** Likely to crash heads with allies, shows no survival skills, cockiness could get him in trouble

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Polaris was homeless for a period. He's shown no signs of being affected by that, but there is a possibility.

 **ODDS:** 12:1

 **SCORE:** 9

 **NOTES:** Was the backflip really necessary? **But it was cool, Draco**

* * *

 **DISTRICT ONE FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Havanna Gomez

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Whips and poison darts

 **ASSESSMENT:** Havanna whipped up her own poison **Draco you're not supposed to make puns** very well, easily making some fatal ones. She opted to throw them, usually hitting the target. Then she used her whip, darting from target to target **Are you just doing this to annoy me?** and easily whipping small branches in half.

 **STRENGTHS:** Whips, poison, darts

 **WEAKNESSES:** Havanna is extremely loud, likely to causes clashes in the Pack. Likely to scare off sponsors. Likely to rush head-on into something just to spite someone.

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Havanna is sane, but she is easily angered

 **ODDS:** 12:1

 **SCORE:** 9

 **NOTES:** I can get loud, witch **No she's supposed to say that**

* * *

 **DISTRICT TWO MALE**

 **NAME:** Edric Lyons

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Fighting and spear throwing

 **ASSESSMENT:** Edric was quite skilled at spear throwing, landing each one where he wanted. He sword fought very well, taking down out the assistant by tricking him about where his attack would be

 **STRENGTHS:** Sword-fighting, willing to fight dirty, spears

 **WEAKNESSES:** Living, lack of honor will lose him support from his District, relies on trickery

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** He's clean, but he shows some torment over his father who is in a coma

 **ODDS:** 12:1

 **SCORE:** 9

 **NOTES:** I hope you do well. Your father doesn't deserve that **Stop giving out nines**

* * *

 **DISTRICT TWO FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Bridgette Striker

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Sabre, throwing knives, fire-making

 **ASSESSMENT:** Bridgette did quite well, taking down our high-low assistant almost immediately with her sabre. She threw her throwing knives easily, seeming to think it was sub-par. She created a decent fire, but it did take her a bit of time to decide whether she had enough kindling. She did.

 **STRENGTHS:** Sabre, throwing knives, fire-making

 **WEAKNESSES:** Underconfident, very small, picks fights easily

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Bridgette is clean **But why is she so self-conscious?**

 **ODDS:** 12:1 **Don't you do it**

 **SCORE:** 9 **And you did it**

 **NOTES:** She's worth a nine. Back off, Cordelia. **Can't make me**

* * *

 **DISTRICT THREE MALE**

 **NAME:** Excel Witijenn

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Throwing knives

 **ASSESSMENT:** Excel threw throwing knives, but he missed the target, missed the wall, and ended up with a wound in his arm. We have taken care of that, but that was impressive **A strength should be strength lol** After that, he continued to try and throw knives, but he rarely hit the center and regularly msised

 **STRENGTHS: Strength,** knows how to use a weapon, doesn't flinch at pain

 **WEAKNESSES:** Addicted to drugs, suicidal, unlikely to attract allies

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Excel is depressed and autistic. That's... That's a lot

 **ODDS:** 300:1

 **SCORE:** 2

 **NOTES:** **It's about time** Make sure he doesn't have access to needles in the Arena. That would be a boring death.

* * *

 **DISTRICT THREE FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Eris Harmon

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Fancy throwing knives

 **ASSESSMENT:** Eris threw throwing knives from odd positions, such as handstands or under her leg. It was quite impressive, and she usually hit the target, though sometimes she did end up missing, likely due to said positions.

 **STRENGTHS:** Throwing knives, balance, strong outer-District tribute

 **WEAKNESSES:** Cocky, annoying, likely to rush into fights over nothing

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Eris didn't test positive for any particular illnesses, but she doesn't seem sane **Are you sure she's not ill?**

 **ODDS:** 12:1

 **SCORE: No** 9

 **NOTES: Give her an eight, dangit** Eris seems likely to destroy the Arena. Put her somewhere annoying.

* * *

 **DISTRICT FOUR MALE**

 **NAME:** Swift Counter

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Wrestling, spears, fire-making

 **ASSESSMENT:** Swift did well at wrestling, taking down our medium-medium level instructor with ease. He threw his spears proficiently, usually hitting the target head-on. Then he made a fire, barely having enough time. He was surprisingly quick at it, likely due to knowing he had to rush.

 **STRENGTHS:** Wresting, spears, very popular

 **WEAKNESSES:** Other survival skills, very nice, likely to help other tributes **Doesn't use a trident**

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Swift is totally sane, likely more normal than the other Careers this year

 **ODDS:** 12:1

 **SCORE:** 9

 **NOTES:** It would be nice if he used a trident **I wish I could send you one, you little rebel**

* * *

 **DISTRICT FOUR FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Rialta Vernel

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Knives and improvisation

 **ASSESSMENT:** Rialta was very impressive with her improvisation, fashioning her own knife out of various things in the Training Center. Her knife skills were less prominent, and she is not a Career, but they are still worth noting

 **STRENGTHS:** Knows how to use knives, not afraid of death, improvisation

 **WEAKNESSES:** Not as strong as most Careers, likely to ignore the threat of death, weak knife skills

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Rialta is sane, though she has an odd obsession with death

 **ODDS:** 24:1

 **SCORE:** 6

 **NOTES:** Well, this is the place to find out about it **That's morbid** This is the Hunger Games

* * *

 **DISTRICT FIVE MALE**

 **NAME:** Turbo White

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Weights

 **ASSESSMENT:** He really lifted those weights. Turbo showed off surprising strength for a fifteen-year-old, probably lifting more than I could. He just threw around weights the whole time, showing some endurance.

 **STRENGTHS:** Strength, endurance, likely to attract sponsors

 **WEAKNESSES:** Dumber than a bag of nails, weights are practically useless, super uncoordinated **But he threw those weights, dangit!**

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Turbo is totally sane

 **ODDS:** 48:1

 **SCORE:** 4

 **NOTES:** You really threw those weights **The kid's trying**

* * *

 **DISTRICT FIVE FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Margherita Leiherr

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Shuriken and first aid

 **ASSESSMENT:** Margherita did reasonably well with the shuriken, usually hitting the target and sometimes hitting the center. She also showed off some basic first-aid skills, which ended up being almost worthless, judging by her reaction to the sight of the assistant's blood

 **STRENGTHS:** First aid, shuriken, chopped off some of her hair

 **WEAKNESSES:** So much hair, weak at the sight of blood, bad at quick thinking

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Margherita is a clean sight, though she may be hemophobic

 **ODDS:** 24:1

 **SCORE:** 6

 **NOTES:** Why so much hair? **That's gonna get caught on everything, hun**

* * *

 **DISTRICT SIX MALE**

 **NAME:** Omri Rakesh

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Scythe, strength

 **ASSESSMENT:** Omri knew what he was doing with his scythe, easily taking down a high-medium level instructor. He also threw around some weights, doing a bit better than Turbo did **Though surprisingly not much**

 **STRENGTHS:** Scythe, strength, likely to attract sponsors

 **WEAKNESSES:** Not confident, likely to be targeted, unlikely to attract allies

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Omri's clean **Boring kid**

 **ODDS:** 12:1

 **SCORE:** 9

 **NOTES: Here we go again** How is the fifteen-year-old decent compared to you?

* * *

 **DISTRICT SIX FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Althea Fender

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Bow and arrow, plant identification

 **ASSESSMENT:** Althea did pretty well with the plant identification, only misidentifying a few plants. None of them were deadly. She was all right at the bow and arrow, obviously knowing how to use it but not great with her aim.

 **STRENGTHS:** Weapon knowledge, plant knowledge, thoughtful

 **WEAKNESSES:** Very friendly, weak, admits to being easily frightened

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Althea is also sane

 **ODDS:** 36:1

 **SCORE:** 5

 **NOTES: Nice** Honey, you get back home to your flower shop

* * *

 **DISTRICT SEVEN MALE**

 **NAME:** Forrest Wonderland

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Riddles, edible plants, battle hammer

 **ASSESSMENT:** Forrest started the session off with five riddles, then showed off his edible plant knowledge. He was very good at the plants. He then showed off his battle hammer skills, doing reasonable well and being able to handle a reasonably heavy hammer.

 **STRENGTHS:** Battle hammer, smart, edible plants

 **WEAKNESSES:** Kind, easily distracted, girlfriend

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Forrest seems sane, but he's had an odd backstory, being born to a Capitolite but raised by Sevens.

 **ODDS:** 16:1

 **SCORE:** 8

 **NOTES:** Why is a raven like a writing desk? **Because both of them are nevar spelled backwards**

* * *

 **DISTRICT SEVEN FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Sylvia Blanc

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Edible plants, spear

 **ASSESSMENT:** Sylvia did reasonably well on the edible plants test **No she didn't she's a Seven** , then stabbed a dummy a couple of times with a spear. She didn't hit vitals.

 **STRENGTHS:** Spear **I guess** , Edible plants **I guess** , protective boyfriend

 **WEAKNESSES:** No good survival knowledge, very attached to boyfriend, small

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Sylvia is the cleanest tribute we have ever received. She may not have a personality.

 **ODDS:** 36:1

 **SCORE:** 5

 **NOTES:** Do you live under a rock?

* * *

 **DISTRICT EIGHT MALE**

 **NAME:** Caddis Hibbet

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Knives, camouflage **?**

 **ASSESSMENT:** Caddis stabbed a dummy with knives for a while before seeming to grow bored, painting a dog on the wall. It was an impressive dog, but we see no use to this talent.

 **STRENGTHS:** Basic knife knowledge, very likely to attract sponsors, camouflage **?**

 **WEAKNESSES:** Weak knife knowledge, easily distracted, physically weak

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Caddis is sane

 **ODDS:** 72:1

 **SCORE:** 3

 **NOTES:** That was a dog. **That was a dog.**

* * *

 **DISTRICT EIGHT FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Amelia Songbird

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Camouflage **?** , some knots

 **ASSESSMENT:** Amelia painted flowers on things. They were, admittedly, pretty flowers. She then cut apart plants and tied them back together.

 **STRENGTHS:** Flowers and knots, I guess. Likely to attract sponsors.

 **WEAKNESSES:** Flowers are worthless, those weren't even great knots, and you're not a valuable ally

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Amelia's sane. **Just dumb.**

 **ODDS:** 72:1

 **SCORE:** 3

 **NOTES:** Oh no baby what is you doing

* * *

 **DISTRICT NINE MALE**

 **NAME:** Lorenk Pritchett

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Agility, hand-to-hand

 **ASSESSMENT:** Lorenk did our obstacle course, finding many obstacles to be easy, but struggling on the tighter obstacles. He then hit the dummies for a while, focusing mainly on vitals and pain-causing areas.

 **STRENGTHS:** Hitting things, some agility, strength

 **WEAKNESSES:** Not that agile, has shown disdain to the President, survival skills

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Sane

 **ODDS:** 16:1

 **SCORE:** 8

 **NOTES:** He did surprisingly well for his size **Dead is dead**

* * *

 **DISTRICT NINE FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Tori Harris

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Hand-to-hand combat

 **ASSESSMENT:** Tori fought four of our trainers, one at a time. She started with high-easy, then went up one level each time. She won the first three matches, though the third was markedly difficult, and lost the fourth

 **STRENGTHS:** Persistence, endurance, hand-to-hand

 **WEAKNESSES:** Survival knowledge, depression, likely to do something dumb

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Tori has depression and PTSD. She seems to be somewhat stable depression-wise.

 **ODDS:** 24:1

 **SCORE:** 6

 **NOTES:** Of all the people to ally with, you chose Rialta? **Yeah, that can't be a good influence**

* * *

 **DISTRICT TEN MALE**

 **NAME:** Derwin Ciervo

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Swords **Haha, skill demonstrated**

 **ASSESSMENT:** Derwin was all right at his sword. He seemed to have a basic understanding of how to handle it, and he sparred with a low-medium partner, seeming to want just to get an idea of what was happening. Neither won.

 **STRENGTHS:** Swords, endurance, animal experience

 **WEAKNESSES:** Very trusting, not particularly strong, few survival skills

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Clean

 **ODDS:** 24:1

 **SCORE:** 6

 **NOTES:** Perhaps place him near mutts? **That could be epic**

* * *

 **DISTRICT TEN FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Nyra Pickering

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Plant skills, knives

 **ASSESSMENT:** Nyra showed off knowledge of plants both for eating and for medicine, doing somewhat well at both. She used a simulation instead of an assistant for her knife skills, seeming to have a reasonable knowledge of where vitals were

 **STRENGTHS:** Persistent, plant knowledge, knife knowledge

 **WEAKNESSES:** See notes, very loud, likely to make enemies

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Nyra is sane

 **ODDS:** 16:1

 **SCORE:** 8

 **NOTES:** Nyra once tried to lead a rebellion. It failed bombastically, and repercussions were minimal, but we might still want to keep an eye on her. **Why? It's not gonna work. Idiot.**

* * *

 **DISTRICT ELEVEN MALE**

 **NAME:** Robin Ceviros

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Weightlifting and niceness **Thanks, bud**

 **ASSESSMENT:** Robin showed off his strength, and he was stronger than both Omri and Turbo. He lifted the dummies with some ease, able to add some weight to them. He then picked us some flowers and gave them to us. We would have docked him points because they weren't edible, but he didn't take note of anything other than color.

 **STRENGTHS:** Physical strength, used to pain, used to hunger

 **WEAKNESSES:** Not very knowledgeable, unable to communicate, extremely trusting

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: What the frick, what the frick** Robin was used as a slave in Eleven. He seems to be mostly mentally unaffected by this, but he is very physically damaged, the main notice of that being unable to speak. He is surprisingly sane.

 **ODDS:** 20:1

 **SCORE:** 7

 **NOTES:** How are you okay? **What the frickkkkk**

* * *

 **DISTRICT ELEVEN FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Saige Lark

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Machete

 **ASSESSMENT:** We were unable of doing a full assessment of Saige due to her mindset when she came in (see psychological profile). She used a machete halfheartedly, swinging weakly at a dummy.

 **STRENGTHS:** Willing to kill, used to harsh situations, unpredictable

 **WEAKNESSES:** No self-control, random depressions, physically weak

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** **WHY** Saige has bipolar disorder. This led to her murdering her brother, hence the mention of her willingness to kill. It affects her regularly, and her score was adjusted accordingly.

 **ODDS:** 300:1

 **SCORE:** 2

 **NOTES:** **Is everyone in Eleven messed up?** We'll have to consider her ability to win due to her criminal status

* * *

 **DISTRICT TWELVE MALE**

 **NAME:** Orrick Jasso

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Poison and traps

 **ASSESSMENT:** Orrick made his own poison, coating darts with it. He then set a trap, putting darts in varying places and positions. He made a hole that couldn't be climbed out of, or you would be stabbed by the darts. He refused to have the darts tested on a human, but we checked the makeup of the poison, and they were deadly.

 **STRENGTHS:** Poisons, traps, likely to attract allies

 **WEAKNESSES:** Unwilling to kill, physically weak, clumsy

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Sane

 **ODDS:** 24:1

 **SCORE:** 6

 **NOTES:** Don't stab yourself with a dart, bub **Wouldn't that be poetic justice**

* * *

 **DISTRICT TWELVE FEMALE**

 **NAME:** Appalachia Sooner

 **SKILLS DEMONSTRATED:** Agility, fire-making, knife throwing

 **ASSESSMENT:** Appalachia showed surprising agility for the bone structure we imagine she must have. She easily did our ropes course, then made a quick fire. It burned dimly for a long time. She also threw some throwing knives with a fair amount of accuracy, though she didn't always hit the target.

 **STRENGTHS:** Throwing knives, agility, grit

 **WEAKNESSES:** Extremely malnourished, physically weak, lacks communication skills

 **PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:** Appalachia is sane, though obviously scarred from her life on the streets

 **ODDS:** 24:1

 **SCORE:** 6

 **NOTES:** You've got grit, girl. **Good luck!**

* * *

 **So there we have it! The private session report. Did you like Cordelia Stuart being a part of it?**


	30. 9Scores9

POLARIS FLASHER: 9

HAVANNA GOMEZ: 9

EDRIC LYONS: 9

BRIDGETTE STRIKER: 9

EXCEL WITIJENN: 2

ERIS HARMON: 9

SWIFT COUNTER: 9

RIALTA VERNEL: 6

TURBO WHITE: 4

MARGHERITA LEHEIRR: 6

OMRI RAKESH: 9

ALTHEA FENDER: 5

FORREST WONDERLAND: 8

SYLVIA BLANC: 5

CADDIS HIBBET: 3

AMELIA SONGBIRD: 3

LORENK PRITCHETT: 8

TORI HARRIS: 6

DERWIN CIERVO: 6

NYRA PICKERING: 8

ROBIN CEVIROS: 7

SAIGE LARK: 2

ORRICK JASSO: 6

APPALACHIA SOONER: 6

* * *

Polaris: _An honorable score for an honorable Career. I can always improve._

Havanna: _You think I'm just average for the Careers? I think the f*** not!_

Edric: _I'm one of the normal Careers. I'll have do better or I won't win._

Bridgette: _Huh. They think I'm as good as the rest. I really do have a chance._

Excel: _I did the worst. I guess I really don't stand a chance._

Eris: _Nine. They really think I'm just an average Career? I'm twice as bloodthirsty as Swift._

Swift: _A nine is pretty dang good. Did every single Career get a nine?_

Rialta: _They think I'm just average. I guess I'll find out about death soon._

Turbo: _I did better than Excel. Does that mean I'm good? He's so much smarter than I am._

Margherita: _I got pretty much in the middle. They don't think I'm the worst._

Omri: _How on earth did I do as well as most of the Careers? I'm not_ that _strong._

Althea: _I'm not one of the best. Maybe the Careers will decide they won't want me anymore._

Forrest: _I did so much better than Sylvia. I hope she's not worried._

Sylvia: _Wow, it looks like Forrest really has a chance!_

Caddis: _I was one of the worst? I only beat two people? I didn't think I was_ that _bad._

Amelia: _Huh, they didn't think much of me. Oh well._

Lorenk: _An eight. Not quite the best, but that's pretty good._

Tori: _I guess I'm going to die. A six isn't good._

Derwin: _A six? I'm just some dumb doofus. I gues I'm not._

Nyra: _How the flying frick did I get an eight? They can't possibly like me!_

Robin: _They think I'm strong. They really think I stand a chance._

Saige: _I didn't even really do anything. How did I even get a two?_

Orrick: _A six?! I'm twelve! Does that mean I'm awesome?_

Appalachia: _I got a six. They think I'm not worthless. But they think I won't win._

* * *

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS IS MY SECOND (2nd) CHAPTER TODAY! I repeat: I updated twice within the twenty-four hour period. I'll mention this again when I next update, but this is update #2!**


	31. Interviews

**Marcelene Chaplin (Capitol Interviewer)**

 _All right, Marcelene. This time for real. You're not going to screw up even once._ I was confident this year around. I had plenty of practice now, and I had been studying up on how to read people. I had prepped myself a nice pump-up outfit this year, adding a layer of confidence protection. I was wearing a sleeveless, skintight, black jumpsuit. It was sleek and slightly sparkly, and it made me feel awesome. More importantly, it would make any tuxes look utterly dull, since they would match it, not complement it. I was almost disappointed when Polaris walked out in a blue polo and baggy pants, even going so far as to wear an apron over it, instead of a tux. I couldn't be snarky to that.

"Hello, Polaris! I've heard a lot about your love of photography. Could you tell me about that?" I asked him, knowing what questions he would want me to ask.

"Oh, of course! You see, photography is an art, and I love finding the art in everything. Each inch of the world has art in it, so the only thing you have to do is find it," Polaris replied excitedly. Right then I knew that his interview was over. I had him on a rant, so I could just listen.

When Havanna walked out in a dark red, glittery mermaid dress, I could immediately tell what angle she was going for. _Thank goodness One has smart stylists._ "Welcome to the Capitol, Havanna! I know there are important matters at hand, but let me ask you this: Have any Capitolites caught your eye just yet?" I asked her, leaning in like it was important gossip.

"Not just yet. I need someone who can challenge my intellect, but I'm definitely interested in finding someone," Havanna replied confidently. I understood her phrasing. She was complimenting anyone she looked at, while pretending to be a little snarky.

Edric was wearing a suit, but I had to give it to him: It wasn't boring. It was gold, and by the way he moved in it, it wasn't light. Even better, it was totally dazzling. It didn't give me an idea of what to ask about, so I fell on an old favorite. "Edric, what made you decide to volunteer?"

"Well, my family has always been big on honor. My dad trained me to be the best person I could be. So now, I'm trying to win the Games to bring him back to health. He's in a coma, and trading my life for his is the only honorable thing to do," Edric said. It was a good response. People liked sob stories.

Bridgette's dress was dazzling. It started off as a light blue, then worked its way slowly down to a deep navy. I was impressed by the stylist, so I made a mental note to get myself a dress like that. Sadly, it didn't drop a hint to her angle, so I had to take a shot in the dark. "Bridgette, tell me honestly: Where do you think you'll land this Games? You think you're going to win, but be one hundred percent realistic," I said. The answer was obvious, but I felt lazy.

"Of course I'm going to win. All us Careers make a good group, but there's no way I'll lose. I'm talented, and I'm smart. Most of us can't say both of those things." _Oooh. Savage._

Excel was wearing... Something. He had on jogging shorts and a blazer over a white dress shirt. I was not impressed. I would have preferred it if he had worn a tux. Still, it was my job to interview, not judge. _Even though Vispasian can't disagree that that's sad._ "Excel, how are you enjoying your time in the Capitol?" I asked, not having a clue about his angle.

He shrugged. I was infinitely offended. One does not simply shrug when asked a question. "Is everything going well for you?" I asked, trying to prompt some response. He nodded. I almost screamed, but I kept my fake smile up. "I sure hope it is!" _I'm glad you had an ugly outfit._

Eris was also wearing something. I couldn't honestly say I was impressed by her dress, seeing as she had worn it both to her Reaping and to the Parade. It was pretty disappointing, seeing the same dress used over and over again, but I knew was Eris was going for. She had a character, and I could use that. "Eris, you're obviously quite the competitor. What are you going to do, since you didn't join the Careers?"

"I'm going to try my best! I hope the other tributes do well, since I just want a fun Games. If everyone dies naturally, there's no pride involved in my win." I had to admit, Eris packed a lot into her response. She was confident and polite at once, and I respected it. _More than I respect that outfit._

Swift was, to no one's surprise, wearing a suit. On the bright side, he had blue face paint on. _Shocking._ He seemed like he was trying to look fierce, so I decided to roll with it. It was no challenge to make a Career seem strong. "Swift, what's your strategy for the Games? I'm sure you're going to wipe out the competition."

"Oh, dang. Well, obviously, the Capitol thinks I'm fierce, but I mostly want to wait things out before anything serious happens. I guess I don't really live up to my appearance," he replied, making dumb faces and pointing at his makeup. I liked it. He was making fun of himself, not anyone else.

I knew before Rialta walked onto the stage what I was going to ask her about. She was a _character._ Her outfit was interesting, her ombred teal gown and matching hat and jewelry looking striking on her, and her hair done up beautifully, but I didn't really care about it. Outfits were for analyzing, but she didn't need that. "Rialta, what experience do you have with death?"

"Learning about death is tricky. It's nigh impossible to tell what's real and what's fake. My fairest attempt was with a Ouija board, but that got me nowhere. It simply reaffirmed my ideas that perhaps there is a real difference between ghosts and demons, rather than giving me information about the ghosts themselves." I was intrigued by Rialta's answer. _Not that I'll ever touch a Ouija board..._

Fulfilling the trend the males were starting, Turbo wore a suit. His was brown instead of black, but it was still a suit. I didn't glare at him, despite my desire to. That would get me fired. Instead, I retaliated against his boringness with some of my own. "So, Turbo. I hear you used to work in a factory. What's that like?"

"Oh, it was all right! I was never the brightest, but my coworkers tried really hard to help me out with anything I didn't understand. And since I worked hard, none of them minded when I had to ask dumb questions," Turbo replied. He was so sincere that I felt bad for asking such a worthless question.

Margherita was wearing a green ballgown and a flower crown, which I actually found to be quite lovely. It went well against her hair, which was noticeably shorter than it had been in the Parade. I figured she was going for an Peace Queen vibe, so I decided to assist. "Hello, Margherita! I hear from some people that you're more of a wallflower these Games. Do you intend to just wait them out?"

"That won't be necessary. I can fight as needed and hide as needed on a case-to-case basis," Margherita replied. I realized that she did not intend to be a Peace Queen, but I didn't break composure. I just pretended that that was exactly what was supposed to happen.

I had to blink when I saw Omri's outfit. The boy was wearing a brown suit. It looked nearly exactly like Turbo's, but I didn't judge him because of that. If Turbo could be nice despite his catastrophic outfit, so could Omri. "Omri, what was your first thought when you got Reaped?" That was a safe question. Any angle could sprout off it.

"My first thought was that I had to win. Six could use the money it would bring, and we need the morale boost winning would bring." Omri didn't speak for himself at all, but I didn't really respect him for it. There was nothing there to respect.

Althea wore a splendid red ballgown and lovely golden heels, even though she was a fine height without them. I was impressed, seeing as Six's other outfit wasn't so great. Althea made a splash in the Capitol, so I knew exactly what to ask her. "Being in the Career Pack is pretty weird for a Six. How did you convince them to let you join?"

"Well, I told them I wanted to. I was pretty surprised when they actually took me seriously, and then even more surprised when they said yes. So far, most of them are pretty nice. I think it'll be a good alliance to be in," Althea said brightly. I didn't know what to make of that. The girl was a Career, and her angle was the ditz.

Forrest wore a tux. The second he did that, I disliked him. I decided to prefer Sylvia over him, even though Sylvia was infamous around the Capitol for having no personality whatsoever. "Forrest, I see you're here with your girlfriend. What did you think when she was Reaped?" I asked, not bothering to give him a fair shot at an angle.

"I was pretty worried about her. It's hard, because I want to win, but I want her to win, too. I know we're going to stick together until we're dead, though. It's a pretty reassuring thought that neither of us would ever leave each other, and that we can both help each other out." Despite his tux, Forrest's response earned him my respect. He showed love and a value of self. That was impressive.

Sylvia was wearing a knee-length white dress. Yet again, I couldn't really say I was impressed. It was a knee-length white dress. I could sew that myself. I had no idea what her angle was, unless it was pure innocence, so I decided to work with pure innocence. "Sylvia, what are your thoughts on being able to help your boyfriend through the Games?"

"Oh, it's so exciting!" Sylvia replied. "I really hope he wins. I just want to take good care of him and make sure my boo can be Victor." I was almost disgusted by her response. She showed love without a value of self, and that was never a good thing.

Caddis, like everyone else in the world, wore a suit. I glared at it for a second before turning to the boy. He didn't choose his outfit, I knew, so I tried to shut the resentment out of my brain. I put on a fake smile and decided to go for the kiddo angle, since Caddis was definitely a kiddo. "Caddis, what has been your favorite part of the Capitol so far?"

"Oh, gosh! I don't even know what to say. You guys have such cool ice cream, and such cool toys. You even have giant pianos! I don't know how to play, but pressing the buttons is really fun. I could just do it for hours," Caddis responded energetically. I let him talk his own way through the rest of the interview. It was clear I wasn't needed.

 _Another underwhelming outfit. I used my best for this._ Amelia wore a pink and purple dress and a silver headband. I didn't pretend to be impressed. I didn't pretend to care. I just smiled and asked, "Amelia, how has the Capitol been for you so far?" I did pretend that I actually cared, because, as interviewer, I was supposed to. I cared more about how she did in the Games.

"Oh, it's been so much fun! They let me try on a whole bunch of pretty dresses. Just look at this one! Isn't it lovely? Everyone's been so nice to me so far. I hope that they stay so nice." I didn't have the heart to break it to her that we weren't going to stay so nice. She could die blissfully ignorant.

Lorenk was wearing a deep red button-up shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. His hair was slicked back, and I could practically feel how hard it was. I wanted to tap on it and hear it clunk. "Lorenk, what's your Games plan?"

"I can't really give that out, now can I?" _Oh, two can play at that game, you fool._

"Do you have a specific strategy?" I pressed

"Isn't that the same as a Games plan?" _It sure is. But we've wasted three of your fifteen minutes._

Tori wore a simple, red sheath dress that reached to her knees, and matching red flats. I appreciated the simplicity, even though it wasn't really my taste. _Maybe Nine is the best District for stylists._ "Tori, how has training gone for you? Do you think you've learned a lot?" I asked the girl.

"It's been pretty good. I've learned as much as everyone else, I guess. It's fun to learn, but I don't think it really matters. I got a week." I didn't despise her coolness as much as I despised Lorenk's. At least hers was sincere and polite, not rude.

Much to my surprise, I wasn't annoyed when Derwin showed up to the stage in a suit. That would be because it was a hideous suit, and I was impressed by just how hideous it was. He was wearing a white suit with black spots in it, giving off the impression of a cow. _Who on Earth thought that was a good idea?_ "Derwin, what are your thoughts on your alliance?"

"It-t's pret-ty strong, I guess..." Derwin said, sweating up a storm. I had him escorted off the stage, pretending he had tripped. Crying on stage wouldn't look good for sponsors.

Nyra wore a yellow dress. Hooray. I had no idea what her angle was, but I knew Nyra like the back of my hand. The little rebel had a name as soon as it was pulled out of that bowl. "Nyra, you have quite the history. How do you think that'll impact your time in the Games?"

"Oh, dang. That's a pretty good question! I don't think it'll do too much. I was being a dumb kid, and President Ginger seems pretty forgiving. At least, I sure hope she is! Anyways, I think I still have a fair chance. Careers are a thing, but I'm not afraid of them. They're just dumb kids, too." I was impressed by her response. She shook off the threat and kept things fun.

Robin wore a black tux, but that didn't make me miss a beat. I was excited to meet the guy. I had to interview a mute person, which was going to be interesting, and I was sure neither of us knew sign language. Still, I was going to give it my best shot. "Robin, how has the Capitol been for you so far? I hear you made a cool ally."

Standing straight up, Robin pantomimed making a clay bowl. He showed how he did it over and over again, theatrically waving his arms in grief at each mistake. Then he wrote letters on the ground, writing his name a couple times. He smiled brightly at me the whole time, and I knew exactly what he meant. I was impressed by the boy.

Saige didn't stand a chance after Robin's interview, and her outfit didn't help. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress with matching heels. It was cute enough, but it wasn't fantastic. She needed something stunning in order to get noticed. I smiled at her when she sat down, even though she didn't. "Saige, do you have any big plans for the Arena?"

"Not really. I just hope I last a while," Saige said bluntly. I got the feeling she wasn't in her best mental state, so I tried not to judge, but I was no miracle worker. I couldn't make someone who wouldn't put any effort in seem interesting.

After Saige's outfit, I was hoping for something exciting. I was disappointed. Orrick wore a red and white suit and a red bowtie. _Last one of the night. Last one of the night._ While he sat down I smiled brightly at him, waiting for him to be ready for his question. "Orrick, I hear you were quite the prankster back in Twelve. Do you think that'll be useful in the Arena?"

"Oh, I don't really know! I'll be able to be super annoying, I guess. I may have some things planned, depending on the Arena, but I don't know if they really count as useful," he replied calmly. I figured he was right. Pranks were pretty worthless.

Appalachia was wearing a short, poofy pink dress. It didn't seem to fit her. The girl was thinner than a Capitolite, with bruises and scraggly hair to match. Still, I knew her angle, and I didn't want to stress her out, so I worked with it. "Appalachia, I know the Capitol has a lot of seemingly odd food. What food is your favorite?"

"Hm... Well, I tried sushi once. It was the weirdest thing! I didn't know what it was, since I can't read that great, but it was delicious! I hope I always have some on me." _Oh you little sass you. Asking for sponsors by pretending to be a ditz. I like you._

With the interviews over, I was finally free. I took a bow, walked off the stage, and got ready to go home. I had had enough excitement for one night. I had to take off my jumpsuit, change into some pajamas, and live the rest of the year without any interviews whatsoever. I would watch the Games with Ginger, but I wasn't allowed to be involved anymore. _And good thing._

* * *

 **And there we have it! The interviews. As promised: I UPDATED TWICE WITHIN YESTERDAY'S TWENTY-FOUR HOUR LIMIT**


	32. Into the Tubes

**Extravagance Eleanor (D1Mentor)**

My last words to my tributes were always easy, probably the easiest of any District. Polaris was talking to Havanna about some exciting plan he had, double-checking all the last-minute details of it. I hardly even had to say a word. I just nodded at them, happy that I had finally received some tributes worthy of my time. "Good luck."

* * *

 **Totsuki Sugihara (D2Mentor)**

Edric and Bridgette were both doubting themselves. I needed to do a pump-up speech. That was my specialty. "Both of you, this is neither the time nor the place to begin doubting yourselves. You got this far, and you're going to get the rest of the way. Bridgette, you keep up your poker face. Edric, killing people is just saving yourself at this point. Win."

* * *

 **Alesandro Ferme (D3Mentor)**

Eris didn't look at me when she walked into her tube. I didn't mind that. She wasn't my tribute. I looked over at Excel, instead. "Excel, you are just as valuable as everyone else in these Games, and you are capable of winning. Don't let yourself get down, and trust Turbo to keep you away from anything dumb. He's smarter than he acts."

* * *

 **Talaysa Pool (D4Mentor/Escort)**

Swift made jokes to Rialta the whole time he walked into the tube. I assumed he was trying to make her more confident, but she hardly even looked at him. "Rialta, remember what we talked about! You need to be a people person, so you actually get sponsors. Sponsors are good. Swift, you're doing a great job, honey. You got this."

* * *

 **Sol Johnson (D5Mentor)**

I looked over at Turbo, hoping that he knew how to judge situations. We had worked on it, but there was only so much I could teach. "Turbo, you remember the plan. Excel is a good ally, but keep a close eye on him. Don't do anything that could get you killed."

Margherita didn't need a pep talk. At least, I assumed she didn't, since she walked into her tube without missing a beat.

* * *

 **Rodney Sanchez (D6Mentor)**

"Omri, while you're in there, find a reason to fight. You get on that right away and you stand a real chance. Keep that in mind. Both of you, get out of the Pack the second there's tension. Don't think about supplies, and don't think about the future. Careers kill faster than the Arena." It was awkward, talking to a boy who was obviously doubting himself for the first time in forever and a girl who was in a puddle of tears, but I wasn't thinking about emotions. I was thinking about life.

* * *

 **Cassia Rose (D7Mentor)**

Sylvia walked over to Forrest before his tube opened, kissing him long and hard. I knew she was thinking that it could be her last time. I knew that was a fatal flaw to be worried about. "Sylvia, Forrest might die. Forrest, I could say the same to you. If that happens, pick yourself up, no matter how hard it is." It was worthless advice. I knew they wouldn't be thinking about that right after their loved one died. I just had to say something.

* * *

 **Rybbom Marbroox (D8Mentor)**

Amelia shook when she walked into her tube. I wanted to give the girl a hug. She was finally learning what the Games really were, and she was so far too late. Caddis shook, too, just as hard as he had when I mentioned last year's Eight male. I didn't know how to handle that. "Both of you have a fighting chance. You really do. Just keep your head up and never give up."

* * *

 **Flora Amfora (D9Mentor/Escort)**

Tori was perfect. She looked like she wasn't scared, like she could take the whole world on with ease. I knew she was just in a depressed mood, and she could switch to terrified at any time, but I was pretending I didn't. "All righty, both of you! Remember, sponsors, sponsors, sponsors! Careers can kill, but so can exposure! Keep the Capitol interested, and don't give up!"

* * *

 **Bessie Deer (D10Mentor)**

Derwin and Nyra weren't nearly as confident as I knew some tributes were. Both of them were looking at the ground, or at the ceiling, and Derwin was trying to hide tears. I didn't think the kid was going to make it. Nyra was a fighter, but Derwin didn't stand a chance. "Derwin, stick with Orrick like your life depends on it. He'll help you get sponsors. Nyra, don't tick off the Capitol."

* * *

 **Cherry Aims (D11Mentor)**

Robin got into his tube easily, pretending to be counting down already. I figured he was more scared than he was letting on, but I let him pretend to be fine. Saige actually looked scared. She was walking around in her tube, muttering about how she didn't want to touch any weapons. I knew she had to. "Saige, the past is in the past. Live for now, or you won't live at all."

* * *

 **Bellepheron Steed (D12Mentor/Escort)**

Orrick and Appalachia were doubting themselves. Neither one cried, but both of them were considering it. "Okay, you two. You know what you're going to do. Orrick, you're great for sponsors. Keep that up and you'll be invaluable. Appalachia, stick with Nyra. The Capitol will prefer you to her, so you're a smaller target as long as you're near her."

* * *

 **Ta-da! Into the tubes. I feel like these things are crazy repetitive, so lemme know in the reviews if you like this sorta chapter. Otherwise I'll skip it if I write another SYOT.**

 **Note: Yeah, I updated again before the twenty-four hour limit. What can I say? I really want to write the Bloodbath.**


	33. Countdown

**Saige Lark (15) D11F**

 _60... 59... 58... 57..._

 _Oh my gosh this is so exciting! You can kill so many people. Ooh, hatchet! Take that and off with their heads!_ I could hardly keep track of my thoughts. I knew I was in a mania. I had a feeling it wouldn't end well. I also knew there was no way I could control myself. If my mind insisted that I was going to kill as many people as I could manage to before I died, I was going to do just that. At least if I went out I was going out with a bang.

* * *

 **Margherita Leiherr (14** **) D5F**

 _50... 49... 48... 47..._

I was wearing a T-shirt and ripped-up jeans. There were giant holes in the knees, and I had a straw hat. It didn't take long for me to figure out what the Arena was, and when the tube rose, my suspicions were confirmed. In the center of the circle of tributes, surrounding the Cornucopia, there was a patch of gravel. It had cars on it. Beside that there was a house, and behind me there was another, smaller building. I knew where the Careers would head. _But where should I go?_

* * *

 **Lorenk Pritchett (16) D9M**

 _40... 39... 38... 37..._

 _What is this?_ I was excited when I saw the Arena. Nine was the District of farms, and we seemed to be on a hobby farm. I could see a couple of cows, and there were sheep behind me, if I heard correctly. The best thing of all, though, was the cornfield I could see across the Cornucopia from me. I had practically lived in a field for years.

* * *

 **Caddis Hibbet (12) D8M**

 _30... 29... 28... 27..._

 _Oh crud you're gonna die for sure._ Of all the places to be, I was right beside Polaris. My original plan was to dart in, grab something, and dart out, but that destroyed that plan. There was a bunch of lovely supplies right next to me, but I knew I couldn't go for them. Polaris would kill me in a heartbeat. _If he notices me..._

* * *

 **Eris Harmon (16) D3F**

 _20... 19... 18... 17..._

 _Omri and Barrick, huh? Neither of them are threats. Maybe Saige? But she's hardly a threat. She's just insane._ I didn't have the best place in the Cornucopia. I didn't particularly want to kill anyone right next to me, but what was a girl to do? I had to kill _someone_ in the Bloodbath. _The Careers won't target you. Go wherever you want._

* * *

 **Appalachia Sooner (12) D12F**

 _10... 9... 8... 7..._

I was at a disadvantage. I didn't know anything about farm life. I was across the Cornucopia from Nyra, who knew a lot about farm life. She and I tried to frantically sign things to each other, both trying to decide where we were going. I didn't want to run through the Bloodbath, but Nyra's side was closer to the other buildings. _All right. Middle ground._

 _LET THE TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES BEGIN!_

* * *

 **Pitifully short countdown chapter, but whatevs. Lemme repeat: This is my second time updating within the last twenty-four hour period! I updated three times within a forty-eight hour period! People are only getting one notification, but I'm impatient and wanna kill some peeps.**


	34. Bloodbath

**Hahaha I screwed up, here's the real Bloodbath, peeps**

* * *

 **Tori Harris (18) D9F**

The second the gong went off, I darted into the fray. Not very far into the fray, but far enough that I could grab a knife. Then I turned around, following Rialta's instructions. She wasn't dumb enough to say out loud where we were going, but I could read her facial expressions well enough. I went around the house and looked for a back entrance.

* * *

 **Saige Lark (15) D11F**

I ran into the Cornucopia, not looking back for a second. There was a hatchet right in front of me. How awesome was that? It wasn't hard at all for me to grab it, and then I ran through the fray, looking for anyone I could to stab. I wasn't worried about _who_ I stabbed so much as I was worried about actually stabbing someone. I lodged my hatchet into someone's back, going at her body again and again to make sure a cannon sounded. I hardly noticed when I felt a pain in my back instead of hers.

* * *

 **Edric Lyons (18) D2M**

I hadn't intended to be a merciless killer. I was going to be one of the guards during the Bloodbath, just like Polaris' plan called for. Bridgette and I were guards, protecting the supplies, while everyone else killed. However, when I saw Saige tearing apart a girl's corpse, I realized I wasn't being merciless. I was doing a mercy kill. I just wasn't killing the person I was showing mercy to.

* * *

 **Althea Fender (16) D6F**

Polaris told me that I was to run into the house and guard it, instead of protecting supplies. I was more than happy to take that chance. The second I heard the gong I ran into the house, finding the door unlocked. I didn't really need a weapon, because only an idiot would head for the best building in the Arena. It would have to be an idiot or a Career.

* * *

 **Caddis Hibbett (12) D8M**

I was dead the second the gong went off. Figuratively, not literally. I wasn't supposed to be a crybaby; I was supposed to be a fighter. When I was right by a Career, I hardly had time to be either before his knife settled into my body. _Sorry, Robin_

* * *

 **Polaris Flasher (18) D1M**

Everything was going exactly to plan, just as all things should. I was killing off threats, and that random kid that happened to get too close to me. So was Havanna. Lorenk was my backup, and Althea was guarding the house. With any luck, we'd get half the tributes in the Bloodbath alone. I wasn't going to live off luck alone. I stabbed a girl in the back and then kept on going.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

 _I am_ not _running right through the Bloodbath, straight to nowhere!_ Appalachia could follow me if she wanted to. I ducked into the Cornucopia, grabbed a pack, and ducked back out. I was headed for the barn, noting the pitchforks and cows in it. We could last there for a long time if we had to, and we almost certainly would.

* * *

 **Margherita Leiherr (14) D5F**

I was smart enough to be worried about the Bloodbath, but I didn't know anything about farms, and I knew the closest Career was a person away. I figured I could run into the Cornucopia, grab some food, and run back out. A quick knife in my back proved that I had sadly miscalculated. _Das ist nicht gut._

* * *

 **Sylvia Blanc (15) D7F**

 _Oh no._ Forrest got put right by Havanna. I couldn't have that. I ran over to help him, wanting to get between him and the Career. Before I had time, I saw a sword sticking out of his chest. I ran more from instinct than from anything else. I knew that the second I stopped running, I would fall down and never get back up again.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

I almost felt pity for Sylvia and Forrest when I stabbed the Seven male in the back. He was losing his life, and she was losing her lover. It was too bad I was trained to work past emotions. Once I had stabbed him through, I turned to see who was next on the agenda. Most of the tributes were dead or gone, so I headed into the house, instead.

* * *

 **Forrest Wonderland (15) D7M**

I could see Sylvia running to save me before it was too late. I was running to her, mostly because the only other direction was toward Havanna. I knew that neither one of us would be fast enough. I just wished that she didn't get to see the way I died. That image would never leave her memory, just like it would be the end of mine.

* * *

 **Derwin Ciervo (17) D10M**

I fled. I didn't bother to grab anything from the Cornucopia; that would be a death wish. Instead, I ran, headed straight for the sheep pasture I saw. There was a little building by it, and it had sheep and chickens and ducks. That would be where I was most at home, and hopefully, the nasty, muddy ground would keep the Careers away for a little bit. I sat in the building, counting four cannons before I stopped listening to the screams.

* * *

 **24th Place: Amelia Songbird - Stabbed (repeatedly) by Saige**

 **Amelia was supposed to be a Bloodbath. Her form was pretty short, and her defining quality was "ditz." It was clear to me she wasn't supposed to make it far. She was still very fun to have and to play around with, but I would have had a tiny Bloodbath without her. Thank you to AlyssumBellgrove for Amelia, who was a necessary component of any Games.**

 **23rd Place: Saige Lark - Stabbed through by Edric**

 **Saige was kind of awesome. She was a cool character, and you don't get characters with bipolar depression every day. She could have made it far, but her form said she would enter a mania in the Bloodbath, and that's not a good thing. I also didn't feel I could portray her well enough, and I don't want to butcher such a real illness. Thank you very much to District Nine Tribute for such a cool character.**

 **22nd Place: Caddis Hibbett - Stabbed by Polaris**

 **Caddis was super fun. The little doofus was great to write, and he was a nice breath of fresh air in such a horrid idea (the Games). However, he was submitted as a Bloodbath, and I had to take what I could get. Thank you to DestroyNotCreate for Caddis, who was exactly what this Games (and what Robin) needed.**

 **21st Place: Margherita Leiherr - Also stabbed by Polaris**

 **Margherita was interesting. I never exactly got a feel for her, but she was still a good tribute to have around. She provided a fun way to yell things in German, and it was fun to notice her hair. Sadly, I was really, really reaching for Bloodbaths, and she got chosen. Thank you to XxIsabelline De Las MercedesxX for Margherita, who was a fun and new character.**

 **20th Place: Forrest Wonderland - Stabbed by Havanna**

 **Forrest was submitted as a Bloodbath. Weird, huh? The jig is now up. Y'all can stop hating Sylvia for being a nobody. Forrest was a pretty cool dude, but I honestly could hardly write him. I tried to do well, but I can't make riddles for the life of me, and he wasn't really me. He would have made it longer if this wasn't his intended purpose. Thank you to AmericanPi for Forrest, and I'm so sorry he didn't get 19th. I didn't have enough Bloodbaths.**

 **Two notes! One: Deaths in the Bloodbath happen pretty close to each other. If you need a different placement, just use it. It don't matter.**

 **Two: A better description of the Arena. There's a nice-sized house, which the Careers have taken, a barn, a garage, a sheep shed, a machine shed, a corncrib, a silo, a storage shed, and big fields. There are actually two pastures, some animals (as we've met), and some vehicles. There'll be small details later, but now you know how they all fit.**


	35. A Scream

**Btw I fixed the Bloodbath. Thanks to everyone who yelled at me or I would have been pretty confused when nobody commented on it XD**

* * *

 **Rialta Vernell (18) D4F**

Tori beat me around the house. When I saw her, she was searching for something, running up and down the front yard. I looked with her, wondering what it was I was looking for. "What do we need?"

"There's a door, but it's locked. We have to find it before the Careers get in the house," she replied immediately. I joined her in the search, wondering where someone would bother to hide a key. I didn't think the Capitolites would hide it somewhere dumb, like under a rock. Then we wouldn't really have to search, so there would be less tension.

"Hey! What's this?" I said, looking at a glint on the ground. There was a piece of wood, and I examined it. Looking more closely, it was a small birdhouse. Around it there was a wire with a key tied to it. I grabbed the key quickly, making sure to duck under the huge window the house had looking out toward us. I carried the whole birdhouse, not bothering to untie the key, and looked through the window on the back door. I couldn't see anyone, which meant none of the Careers could probably see us.

"Walk totally silently. We are _not_ getting caught," I whispered to Tori, slowly unlocking the door. We walked in together in near silence, though it didn't end up mattering. The Careers were gathered a room over, making a huge ruckus. We couldn't see them, but we could hear them with ease. They were doing inventory, planning, and doing a little celebrating. I wasn't worried about that.

Beside us, there was a staircase. "Tori, stay here and watch. If a Career comes, just scream and run," I said, walking down the staircase. I wasn't the biggest, strongest, most strategic Career, but I wasn't about to go into a place where there could very well be no exits without some sort of lookout.

I reached the bottom of the staircase and noticed a light I didn't dare turn on. I found out that I was in a basement. It was gross and cold, and there were spiderwebs everywhere. There was a random hole in the ground, but there were three rooms. I walked into the back room and found a hole in the wall. I crawled in a little ways, trying to see how far it went, when I realized that it went in more than three people deep. I could fit in pretty far, far enough that no one would ever look for us.

Climbing back up the staircase, I grabbed Tori, leading her to the hole. I had a bag of raisins I had grabbed from the Cornucopia, and that was just about all of our supplies. Things didn't look good, except I knew how Careers worked. There _would_ be a time we could grab something from the Cornucopia. They couldn't possibly guard everything. Until then, we were hiding right under their noses.

* * *

 **Swift Counter (18) D4M**

I liked Polaris. He got things done, and he was a respectable opponent. Those were two of the best qualities somebody could have. However, he was lacking another quality that I appreciated in people: Fun. He was being extremely serious while we counted our supplies, taking an inventory of every little thing. I could handle taking inventory. I could handle being asked to watch the door and begin to plan who would be going on the first hunt. I could handle most things. But I couldn't handle being asked to sit and stare at the door, saying nothing so that he could concentrate.

"This is so cool! Of all the Arenas to get, we get a house! Yes!" I said, pumping my fist in the air. Polaris glared at me. I wanted to address the problem, but it was pretty early for the Pack to split up, so I considered every word carefully. "Hey, Polaris. What if we talk a little bit? I think you'd still be able to concentrate," I said, hoping he wouldn't think any less of me. Fun was important, but so was the leader's respect.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? We could miss an ambush if we're making noise," Polaris said calmly. I didn't really want to engage, but I was bored out of my mind. I considered again, then continued.

"What if we play a game or something, to celebrate such a successful Bloodbath, and then we take inventory? Like, we do a couple rounds of Would you Rather, and then we go back to inventory? I think that'd be fun," I said again, feigning total confidence. I felt like he might yell at me, but I also felt like I would break if I had to sit and stare at a wall any longer.

Polaris considered for many long, hard seconds. I could see Althea hoping we would play a game, while Bridgette seemed disinterested. Havanna was off searching the house to see what was worth note, checking on the second floor, so she didn't get a say. Omri seemed indifferent, and Edric was staying stone still, not making a scene. Finally, Polaris spoke up. "I think we could do that. But only for a little bit."

We were interrupted by a piercing screech. Havanna ran out of the bathroom, yelling profanities. "Hey bird, you wanna get loud? I can get loud, too!" she yelled, apparently at a bird. All of us ran to where she was to see a big yellow bird in a cage. He seemed harmless, all caged up, but he wouldn't stop screaming. We started yelling at it, not sure what else to do. None of us had ever had a bird. _This is a pretty weird first battle._

* * *

 **Robin "Mute" Ceviros (18) D11M**

Caddis died. Caddis _died._ I saw it happen. I wanted to throw myself in front of him and save his poor soul, but I didn't have the time. Before I could reach him there was a knife through him, and before Polaris could reach me I was gone. I wasn't headed anywhere in particular; I was just headed away. Past Caddis' corpse, straight through the Bloodbath, picking up anything I could reach without having to engage with anyone. I didn't want to be near anyone, much less touch them. I had to mourn.

Before I could mourn, I found myself a home. It was a big, round building, way taller than I was. There was a pool ladder reaching partway up to it, and I had to climb up a bit higher by wedging my foot between two boards and hoisting myself up. I figured the Careers would never think to look there, and even if they did, I would be able to see them from far, far away. I was up pretty high. Even better, I could get inside. The platform I was on led to inside the building, and I went in.

The building was small, but nice enough for me. I didn't need much. There was a couch, a cushion, and some tables, as well as a footstool with very wilted flowers on top. I noticed the black-and-white checkered floor, with a small section out of place. I didn't examine it far, simply moving the couch over it and sitting down, plopping my stuff onto the couch and lying down on the cushy, soft cushion. I didn't take inventory of my things. I was trying to learn how to process an entirely new feeling.

Sadness was new to me. I didn't really feel it when I was on the streets; I was too busy living to worry about anything else. I didn't feel it when Paul grabbed me. I was too busy trying to stay alive. For so long, I had felt little but fear. I forced some happiness into my life, but sadness wasn't necessary. Now, when I was sitting down, able to be hunted down at any time, I let myself feel it. I was finally beginning to mourn, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I had spent so long surviving that I hardly knew what living was.

I settled on rolling onto my stomach and crying, then closing my eyes, putting a pillow to my mouth, and screaming. There were a lot of feelings flowing through me. I felt the sadness of losing Caddis, a friend, but Caddis was so much more than that. Caddis treated me like a human. Caddis cared about me. Caddis tried to teach me how to read. _R-O-B-I-N._ I remembered that. I also remembered _C-A-D-D-I-S._ Then I remembered something else.

Now that Caddis was dead, I was all alone in the Arena.

* * *

 **No deaths today! Just Robin flipping out.**

 **What can I say? This family owns a pet bird. His name is Bruno, and he screams whenever he feels like it. Which is more often than not. SKREEEEEEEEEE**


	36. Double Whammy

**Sylvia Blanc (15) D7F**

There is no greater pain than that of a loved one's death. I would have happily given up my life to save Forrest, and to save myself the pain I was going through. I was hidden in the building beside the house, which was split into two sections, hoping nobody decided to kill me while I was moping. If they did, I couldn't mourn properly. If they didn't, I could go through every bit of pain I deserved for failing Forrest.

I laid on a bed and cried. I laid on some piles of bags of wood chips and cried. I laid on the ground and cried. I couldn't think of anything that was worth doing, so I didn't really do anything. Every bit of my life was Forrest. Every thought I had circled back to him. _I could have saved him. I should have saved him. Why am I so slow?_ I couldn't stop the sadness from seeping in. I was completely and totally lost, and I had no value. I had lost my one true anchor, and I was drifting aimlessly through the sea.

Amazingly, nobody found me. It would have been better if somebody had. They would have pulled me out of my pit of self-pity, either by killing me or by letting me vent to them for a while. Instead, I was left alone, just me and my conscience. It wandered. It let me mope for what must have been hours. It could have been days. If nothing had stopped me, I would have moped until I slowly starved to death. There was no reason for me to get up. There was no reason for me to keep going. There was no reason except the one sharp, shattering thought I had that wormed its way into me.

 _You could end your suffering yourself._ The thought entered into my mind almost silently, and I found myself looking at the ropes that were laid in a pile in a corner. There were rafters above me that I could barely reach if I stood on a pile of bags. In that second, I realized how easily I could kill myself. I found myself walking over to the rafters and beginning to the the rope to the ceiling. I found myself stepping into it, closing my eyes to enter the sweet release of death.

I found myself deciding I couldn't die yet. My body yelled at me, and my brain wouldn't let me die peacefully. I fell back from the rope, knowing I couldn't in good conscience die yet. I had to avenge Forrest, and I had to keep his memory going. If I couldn't be myself, if I didn't know who I was, I knew only one thing: Who Forrest was. If he died, I would take his place. And he wasn't going to die again.

* * *

 **Appalachia Sooner (12) D12F**

My plan had been to stick with Nyra for a couple days, let some tributes die out, then leave. I would take the supplies and get out as soon as I needed. That plan was crushed when we were on a farm, not in an urban Arena, and not somewhere that Nyra would be just as lost as I was. Nyra had switched from someone that could help me fight for an hour to somebody that could show me and explain to me every inch of the Arena, and I wasn't going to let that slip through my fingers. Even if it meant listening to her ramblings for hours.

"This is a hayloft! There's lots of really nice hay up here. It'll itch like crazy if it gets in your clothes, but it's also really warm. And, if someone attacks us, we can jump out the window - a bad idea unless totally necessary - or run down the ladder. If they're on the ladder, we can kick them down," Nyra said, clearly proud of her knowledge. I was glad she knew how to keep the cows back, and that she was smart enough to find some pitchforks in the hay. We were armed, and she had knowledge. I just knew how to live.

"And it's okay to be so close to the Careers?" I asked, still doubting our choice of home. We were awfully close to the worst alliance in the Arena.

"Of course! The cows will scare most people off, or the sheep will. The scent's an acquired taste, and, even if someone attacks, we have pitchforks, the high ground, and the better motive. Pretty much, we're all set. We'll have food galore, since neither of us mind eating gross nasty slop, and there's water in the pasture. It's the best Arena I could hope for."

"All right! Sounds good. We should hide ourselves, though." I dug myself into the hay a bit, cringing when I realized just how right Nyra was. The hay itched like a _witch._ Still, it was better to be itchy in the hay than totally out in the open, so I decided to power through the horrendous feeling. The hay was so randomly placed that two human-sized lumps could hardly be noticed, so once we were underneath them, we could hide for as long as we could last without getting water.

"Better be careful. I'll face the ladder," Nyra whispered, facing the ladder. She made her hole right by it, while mine was far in the back of the loft where I would never get noticed. Either she didn't notice that fact or she didn't care, but I definitely did. If we got attacked, she would sound the alarm. She would get in the fight, and I would have immediate access to the window. She got the best Arena she could, and I got the best ally.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

Out of nowhere, parachutes came down. It made absolutely no sense. We were all screaming at a bird, and suddenly, sponsor gifts floated down from the roof. I couldn't figure out the physics of it, and, to be honest, I totally didn't care. I just cared that we had sponsor gifts. We didn't really need them, what with all the weapons and food we had from the Cornucopia, but it was still cool to see people caring about us so early on. Even when we were fighting a losing battle against some idiotic, waste-of-air _bird!_

The first item we opened was a zhua. That was pretty cool. The second was a parrot. It screamed even louder than the bird, which the note with the parrot said was named Bruno. The parrot was named Mars. As much as I wanted to eat it, I knew it would be unwise to immediately kill a sponsor gift. Forgetting to feed it, however, might slide. I threw a blanket over it while Swift opened his box, which was a birthday cake with some lit candles on it. We took the candles and used them to light another candle, then set to eating the cake.

"Hey, there's a teapot! Do any of us know how to make tea?" Swift asked excitedly, setting out the dishes. I shrugged.

"I think I do. How hard could it be?" I said, going over to the kettle. I tested out the faucet, and it turned on, much to my relief. We had clean water. Then I put it over the stove, turning the stove on ever so carefully. I didn't know what would be booby-trapped. After that, I let it sit, and I started rummaging through the cupboards for anything I could use.

The cupboards were full of snacks and spices, ranging from vanilla to chili peppers, but they also had tea. I grabbed the bags and set them in the teapot, tying them around each other so they wouldn't fall into the teapot. The other Careers were cheering over the cake, and I grabbed the cups, offering to clean them while the other tributes sang happy birthday. It wasn't Swift's birthday, but they seemed happy watching him get embarrassed.

I didn't have time for fun and games. I grabbed the mortar and pestle I had seen in one of the cupboards and a green bottle full of blue pills there was in another. Quickly grinding the pills down, I put them in the bottom of Polaris' cup. I didn't like the kid, and it would be nigh impossible to trace the pills back to me, especially since the others were singing and the teapot was screaming while I ground the pills. The fact that I poured the tea for everyone then carried the cups over didn't hurt either. Maybe I could be traced, but my allies were that smart. I was going to be the queen bee.

* * *

 **Polaris Flasher (18) D1M**

After making sure that the cream smelled okay and the sugar wasn't cocaine or something, we made tea. We had to pour the sugar into the tea, because Havanna, who clearly didn't know everything she was talking about, had poured our tea for us. Then we could put the cream into the tea. I made mine flourish, looking like a little rose garden when it rose from the bottom up to the top. The others didn't, simply opting to dump some cream in and drink.

For a second I thought the cream was bad. My stomach started to hurt, but nobody else's did. Then I was worried it was the water, or the teacup hadn't been cleaned properly. I tried to ignore it and eat the cake, happily enjoying everyone else's joy, but little by little I had to realize that something was amiss. I couldn't think clearly. My hand kept barely missing the teacup. I couldn't see what was going on around me. Then I felt my head hit the table, and I slipped into a slumber.

* * *

 **19th Place: Polaris Flasher - Poisoned by Havanna**

 **What can I say? Nothing about my Games is ever normal. After doing a quick survey of certain people (literally just two), I realized that this could be neat. He drank a whole bottle of antidepressants in one teacup. Normally that would take a couple hours to kill you, but how much cooler is the image of him collapsing mid-tea party?**

 **Anyways, Polaris was really cool. He had a very in-depth backstory and personality, and there was definitely a lot there to work with. I just didn't get a strong feel for him, and I wanted to really shake the Games up (and totally freak out Caleb when I asked him if Havanna would do something dumb and gave him no context). Thank you very much to Platrium and Tracelynn for Polaris, who was a strong contender. It's not his fault nobody expects people to have random drugs lying around.**

 **A little bit of context: This Arena is based loosely off my house. One of us is on antidepressants, so that works. There's basic household drugs and stuff, and the animals I've mentioned. My dad's been getting a LOT of questions about how to kill people on our property.**


	37. Last Alliances

**Turbo White (15) D5M**

Excel was very smart. He knew that we had to get away from the Careers and get food, just like I did. However, he found food for us very quickly. Neither of us had bothered to really go into the Bloodbath; that would be a terrible decision. Even I knew that. We just ran away and grabbed stuff that was close to us. I grabbed us a bunch of saltine crackers, and turbo managed to grab a canteen. It was empty, but I was still very grateful for it. I was more grateful, though, that we had more food.

We had found a garden. There were a whole bunch of plants, some thick weeds, and there was even a nearby silo. Also, there was a big cornfield behind us. I liked that. We could run and hide if we had to, or we could jump in the silo. Excel looked through the plants while I scouted the area around us. I didn't know everything about farms, but I could tell what the cows were, and I saw the fence keeping them away from us. It was barbed. I also heard the pigs and sheep in the very close by barn. Excel said it was nothing to worry about, and I trusted him.

When Excel called me back over, I came. "There's the cornfield, a silo, the barn, and some cows. I think there are other animals, too," I said, giving him the quick overview of our hideout. It seemed good to me. I didn't know what he would think, but if he said that we should move, I wouldn't put up a fight. I didn't see anything wrong with just following Excel's lead, even if he wasn't always the nicest person in the world.

"Good. Wanna try this?" Excel asked, handing me some weird green and yellow ball. As always, he was a man of few words, but I took the fruit. I hoped he would learn how to be polite while I bit into it.

Then I spat it back out. "This is gross," I said, after crunching through the shell. It tasted almost like nothing. Excel looked at me like I was insane, then took a bite himself. He nodded.

"It is gross," he said. "Try it again." I took another bite, steeling myself for the taste. It turned red, and I was worried. I had heard bad things about red plants. Excel grinned, though, and took a bite of the red stuff. He seemed amazed, and he took a couple more bites before stopping and turning to me.

"Thought so. It's edible!" he said, practically throwing the thing at me. I took one final bite, and it actually tasted good. Juice dripped down my chin, and the food was sweet.

"We have food!"

* * *

 **Eris Harmon (16) D3F**

What do you do when the Careers choose the best place in the Arena to live and you can't really force them to come out of it? Annoy the heck out of them until they submit. How do you do that? Why, you take every single rock in the Arena and throw it at them. I couldn't go inside the house; that would be signing my death papers. But I could force them out of it, through a bottleneck nonetheless, and take them out one by one using the nifty little bow and arrow I had found in the garage. I could take down every key competitor at once, and then we'd be through.

I tried to throw my rocks often enough to tick the Careers off, but sporadically enough that they wouldn't be able to get used to it and tune it out. None of my rocks broke any windows, sadly, because I was too far away and I was throwing from an absolutely terrible angle. The small door I wanted to throw through, to avoid using the giant hole in the wall that was the other door, hardly faced any windows whatsoever. So I just kept throwing and throwing, knowing some of the rocks were bound to be useful.

Sure enough, my rocks were. One of the Careers poked their head outside the house, then yelled, "I'll go check on it!" I watched her carefully, letting her come outside all the way out while planning my attack. She was shorter than I had expected, and she seemed pretty harmless. I could take her down no problem.

I drew my arrow back, ready to fire it. I aimed, knowing how to even though I didn't have much experience with a bow, and then let go of the arrow. It didn't do me much good. The girl ducked, and someone jumped in the doorway from the side. I pulled an arrow out of my quiver, happy to hear the girl I had fired at scream, and stabbed at the Career standing in front of me. I recognized him as Swift. He grabbed my arrow, and I let go of it and ducked under his arm. I knew he wouldn't see that coming.

Just like I didn't see the knife that hit me. Out of the blue, a throwing knife whizzed into my shoulder. I was amazed that it hadn't hit Swift, and more so that it had still hit me. I hardly flinched, though. I just pulled another arrow out of my quiver and stabbed Swift as hard as I could in the chest. He stabbed me with his arrow, then Havanna threw another. I didn't really have a chance the second it was three on one, but I went out with a bang.

* * *

 **Lorenk Pritchett (16) D9M**

I didn't know where everyone else would go. Therefore, I didn't know where I should go. With Amelia dead, there was nobody in the Arena I wanted to be near. I didn't want allies, and I didn't have any. I could go back to being the introverted loner I always had been, and it would actually be a strategic advantage. My personality was practically perfect for the Games, and I was ready to make the most of it. I just had to figure out where nobody else would be, and I would be set for a long while.

After a while, I realized where the best place to never run into anyone would be. The barn was too small. The garage was taken. So was the corncrib. The pasture, however, couldn't be taken. It was huge. There were a couple of cows, but for the most part, I knew cows as friendly beasts. If I avoided them, they would avoid me. That might not be the case with tributes, but it wouldn't matter. There were some weeds that were my height, and there were some paths I could easily travel on. I could go anywhere and totally disappear, with nobody every knowing where I was. So I did.

The first thing of major importance I noticed was a water hole. There was a big pile of rocks, and beside it, there was a huge pond. It was dirty, but it was water. There was also a tree nearby, which I could climb if I had to. While I wandered, I noticed a nearby woods, and some other dead trees. I found an old, abandoned shed, which really attracted my interest, and a huge cornfield that I could go into if I had to. I would have to duck the electric fence, and get past the holes and brambles, but I could do it.

Following that, the next major item of importance was the giant holes that were hidden throughout the field. I had heard of them in Nine; they were called sinkholes. They could range from six to twelve feet deep, and if you landed in one, you were screwed. I didn't know how many were in the area, because they could be so well hidden, but I knew there was at least one. I knew that after a quick fall and a thud, landing me in deep trouble.

I was conflicted about my situation. On the bright side, there was no chance that somebody would find me and kill me. I was in the middle of nowhere, and I was in a hole. On the down side, there was no chance that somebody would find me and pull me out. Unless I got sponsored an entire ladder, I was stuck in a twelve-foot pit, and I couldn't imagine the Capitol would stay interested long.

* * *

 **Orrick Jasso (14) D12M**

I didn't know for sure what was up with Derwin. He really, _really_ wanted to go in the sheep pasture. I followed him in, because I didn't see much of a problem with it, but I didn't get it. Sure, sheep were cool, and sure, there was a building nearby, but it wasn't that awesome. The barn seemed pretty cool, and I knew we could hole up in one of the cars. Heck, maybe the cars even had heaters! I didn't know a lot about cars, but I knew that some of them could be pretty fancy. But we were in a sheep pasture, trying to avoid poop and sporadically placed fences.

On the bright side, the sheep pasture was pretty neat once we got there. Some of the grass was annoyingly long, but it wasn't the end of the world. Derwin loved the sheep, and some of them let him pet them. One even ate from his hand, but I was too impatient to slowly lure it over to me. I ran off and looked at the building the pasture connected to. It had some hay in it, some old tools, and a chicken corpse. I didn't know what was up with that, and I really didn't want to know. It also had some cats in it, but they didn't seem friendly. They ran off when I got close.

A scream and a bark called me back outside of the building. I saw Derwin running for the house, and I saw a big, brindled dog running toward the sheep. They didn't seem scared. One of them actually engaged, butting its head toward him. I didn't know for sure what was going on, but I didn't the dog seemed aggressive. I thought he seemed like a good boy.

"Come here, boy! Who's a good boy?" I called to the dog, not entirely sure what to say. Twelve didn't have many dogs. It's ears perked up and it ran over to me after barking at the sheep a couple more times. He reached me pretty quickly, and I soon realized that he was a lot heavier than he looked. He bowled right into me, knocking me down.

I pet him a bunch, and he got off me. I looked at his collar, which read _Jesse._ He seemed like a good boy, so I kept petting him. Slowly, Derwin seemed interested. He pet him, too. Jesse was very easily excitable, and sometimes he nipped at us, but mostly, he had us pet him. He sat down obediently while we were petting him, then jumped right back up if we stopped. So we kept petting him.

* * *

 **Whew! It's about time we got another chapter in the books. A lot of things happened here, but we need to get these Games GOING!**

 **18th Place: Eris Harmon - Stabbed and knifed by both Swift and Havanna**

 **Eris was pretty cool. She kinda got screwed over, because she was submitted as a Career, but the slot got filled up super quickly, so she switched to Three. I rolled with it and let her keep her skills, but she didn't make it into the Pack. She was meant to definitely be unhinged, and the Careers have been waiting to reveal their plan, so this seemed like something she would do. Thank you to The Utter Happenstance for Eris, who really ticked off Althea (who now has a shoulder wound ):)**

 **Also, Jesse is a fat, thick boy. A good boy, but a fat boy.**


	38. Good Boi, GO!

**Bridgette Striker (17) D2F**

None of us knew where all these forsaken _birds_ were coming from. A new one named Kirby had just come in a parachute, and one named Unorb had come just the other day. We were not happy. We couldn't relax around all the shrieking, and it seemed like the birds were having a competition to see who could be the loudest. We all wanted to bang our heads against some nice walls, but we couldn't kill the birds. They were gifts, and we couldn't afford to be ungrateful to the Capitolites. Even if they were being nasty dirtbags.

I was just lucky that I didn't have it as bad as Omri. He had to deal with four obnoxious birds _and_ three cuddly cats. One hissed a lot, but two wouldn't stop cuddling with him, causing him to sneeze and itch. He was allergic, the pour soul. We would have just killed the cats, but the Capitolites loved it when we played with them. They sent us warm meals and blankets we really didn't need, but we weren't willing to lose. Still, I had to get out of the house.

"Hey, Omri. We just got a kill, but we may as well keep going. Wanna go on another hunt?" I asked, hoping Havanna wouldn't mind. She was definitely the leader of the Pack, and I had a gut feeling she might have poisoned Polaris, but I wasn't going to say anything. I was just living my life in peace and quiet.

"Sure. Wanna take care of Althea, Havanna?" Omri asked, clearly asking permission. Havanna shrugged, so we left.

"Ugh. I don't know where any tributes are. Grab a weapon," I said, reminding myself as much as Omri. I had almost forgotten. Then we were off, looking around for anybody. We knew there was nobody in the garage. We had searched it thoroughly after killing Eris, the probably unhinged one. The rest of the Arena, though, was fair game. Luckily, I knew a thing or two about tracking.

"Those sheep are making a lot of noise, really huddling around the building. Also, there's a dog yapping there. They might be after a cat or something - I sure hope not - or they might be looking at something else. Wanna go check it out?" I asked Omri, figuring the pasture was a good a place to start as any. He shrugged. He was always a quiet guy, so I couldn't get a feel for him. He didn't tick me off, though, so I was fine.

When we got close to the building, a sheep ran into me. I kicked it, and it ran into me again. So I jumped the fence. It wouldn't keep the sheep away forever, but it bought me some time. Then a little dog started yapping at me. I kicked that away from me, too. I had nothing against the dog. I just couldn't have it making a ton of noise. Then another bark came, much deeper than the last. And we pulled out our weapons.

* * *

 **Derwin Ciervo (17) D10M**

Orrick and I got a sponsor gift after he played with Jesse for a while. It was a cute little puppy whose collar said "James." I liked him. He was much smaller and calmer than Jesse. He ran around a bit, but I knew he wouldn't knock me down if he ran into me. He yapped a bit, but I knew it wouldn't really hurt if he bit me. James was a safe bet, a cute little friend, and my quiet personality matched his safety. It was good that Orrick's playful personality matched Jesse's so well. He kept playing with Jesse, calling him over and petting him, while I let James wander around.

We didn't really worry when James started yapping at something. We figured it was a sheep, or literally nothing. We only started to worry when he whimpered. Then we got really worried when he went totally silent. Even Jesse was upset; he went outside and started to sniff around, trying to see what was wrong. I thought I heard something, so I followed him to check it out. Orrick went out the other door to sneak around, and I assumed he would let me know if there was danger. There wasn't much else the little kid could do.

I was halfway out the door when I heard a growl and a scream. I saw Jesse absolutely mauling the girl from Two. He had latched onto her leg and would not let go. She was bleeding all over the place and trying to stab him, but there wasn't much you could do from that angle. I saw the boy from Six trying to get him off her, but he was biting down hard. Hopefully hard enough to buy me enough time to get away.

Turning around, I sprinted off. I wasn't going to deal with someone who was way bigger and stronger than I was. Then I felt something in my back. I turned to see Omri standing up, holding a knife. I felt my back and felt another one. I had lost this fight before it began. But I was still happy. He was bleeding a bit. Bridgette was bleeding all over the place and walking toward me with a limp. But most importantly, Orrick was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

 **Tori Harris (18) D9F**

"Hey, what's this?" I asked myself, doing a quick raid of the room upstairs. I knew I wouldn't be caught. I couldn't hear the Careers because of the screeching going on upstairs. I had heard the beeping and screaming with each new parachute, and the names people kept calling out. It was kind of hilarious, especially because Tori and I could hardly hear it from our basement hideaway. We were living in peace, able to walk around freely.

Rialta was searching the basement for supplies while I searched the room. We had played rock-paper-scissors for it, best two out of three. Neither of us wanted to go upstairs, and neither of us liked the other enough to stick out necks out just yet, though Rialta was slowly growing on me and I seemed to be slowly growing on her. Still, I was stuck searching the upstairs, grabbing anything I thought the Careers wouldn't care about that looked edible. I didn't know how much of an inventory they took, so I grabbed totally random things.

Those random things made a pretty random haul. I had a bag of flour, some weird, square-shaped _things_ that there were a whole bunch of, a can of mayonnaise, some salsa, a couple cans of soup, and two bottles of cream soda. I could barely fit everything in my arms, but it was all so random I figured nobody would notice it. Did the Careers count the square things? Probably not. Did they count the many, many cans of mayonnaise? Probably not. It seemed like a safe bet to grab every single thing that caught my eye.

"I got goods," I whispered excitedly, dropping my stuff off on the ground. Rialta gave me a quiet high-five, scanning the food quickly.

"Good haul!" she whispered to me. We probably didn't have to whisper, but we weren't risk-takers. "I got something good, too." She pulled some iodine tablets off a shelf she had set them on, as well as a weird game called _Dungeons and Dragons._ "I have no idea how to play this, but it sounds pretty neat. I think we can figure it out."

"Of course we can. Let's just read the manual," I replied, setting out one of the cans of soup. We would have to eat it sad and cold, since we didn't have any real way to heat it, but it was still soup. We shared the can while reading the manual, looking through weird species of humans and nonhumans and varying abilities. They all meant nothing to us, so we just picked out the cool things.

"Ooooh. I'm a mage," Rialta said, looking at the skills. "They're so strong!"

"I'm definitely a warlock. Fight me, witches." Our choices didn't have to make sense. They just had to be fun enough that we didn't bang our heads into a wall.

* * *

 **Ta-da! Not so far apart this time.**

 **17.5th Place: James - Stabbed by Bridgette for making noise**

 **James was a very good boy, but rest assured, Jesse avenged him. Jesse is going strong after running away, and Bridgette's leg will never be the same. Thank you to Platrium, I think, for James. He will be missed.**

 **17th Place: Derwin Ciervo - Stabbed by Omri**

 **Derwin was pretty cool. His knowledge of animals really gave me a chance to play with him, and I liked him. However, he was submitted to die early, and I really wanted to mess some things up. Now we have one more loner D: Poor Orrick. Thank you to ItSaCaTwOrLd for Derwin, who was a very good addition to the story. Orrick will be mourning.**

 **Other note: And this is the chapter where I randomly walked into our back room and asked my dad about water. Yes, we keep iodine tablets in the basement. And Dad randomly buys like thirty things of mayonnaise at a time.**


	39. London Bridge is Falling Down

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

Every action a tribute could make had an ulterior motive. My ulterior motive for wanting to be in the barn wasn't exactly as malevolent as some, but it was there nonetheless. I couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful, perfect tractors right outside of it. I was hidden in hay, warm and itchy, waiting anxiously for a chance to unveil my plan. After a bunch of cannons, I decided we had waited enough. I was done hiding under hay. I was going to wreak some havoc.

"Hey, Appalachia, wanna go look outside? I wanna check something out," I called to my ally. She said yes, so I crawled out of the hay and shook myself off the best I could. I didn't like the feeling of the hay one bit. Then I climbed down from the hayloft and went outside the barn, making a beeline for the tractors I had seen.

I hopped on the bigger one, happy to see it was one of those ones that didn't need a key. I pulled the switch, and it turned on. I pressed the gas and it went. I was amazed. We actually had functioning tractors. "Hey Nyra, wanna learn how to drive a tractor?" I called out. She nodded and hopped on the other one. "So here's the wheel. It controls where you go. Gears control speed. You won't need those. That's the clutch and that's the gas and breaks." I wasn't going to go in-depth on my description. I only needed a base.

"A tractor is called a tractor because it gets great traction. You use them to tear down trees and stuff. In their low gears, they can tear down just about anything before they shut themselves off. I'm gonna go to that tree and drive to the road," I continued, pointing at a big oak. "You go to the road and drive to that tree. Maybe we'll meet in the middle."

There was one obstacle between us. Nyra clearly saw it. It was the reason I chose the bigger tractor. My tractor could easily tear through a building, while Appalachia's could not. Hers could only shatter glass, but she would have the less risky task in return. "When you're about to crash, you can jump off the tractor. You don't need to press the gas on one of these. It just makes you go faster. And if you're not on the tractor, you won't get hurt when it crashes."

* * *

 **Omri Rakesh (18) D6M**

With both Bridgette and Swift badly wounded, the Careers had to take some precautions. Althea was hurt a bit, but she wasn't bleeding all over the place like the other two. I had a couple scratches from fighting the forsaken dog. Havanna and Edric were the only untouched Careers, but they were being used as medics. We all needed to recuperate in a place where we couldn't be easily attacked. That was why we were all sitting upstairs, away from windows. Nobody could see us to snipe us, and if anybody came inside, we would have a good warning. They'd either open the door or break through the window.

It was a nuisance, us being stuck together upstairs. Two more birds had come, George and Washington, but they were nice little songbirds. The cats that kept cuddling me, and the rest of the birds, were not. I was grateful we didn't have any dogs to deal with, or I would have flipped. I was done with animals. I wanted to kill each and every one of them. We could use the meat, since we only had prepackaged food, and we could use the peace and quiet. We just couldn't use the hate killing them would get us.

Havanna was playing a board game with Althea, helping to get her mind off the pain. She had to teach Althea how to play the complicated game called chess, which I had never heard of, and she was creaming the poor kid. Edric was giving Althea some advice, and I was trying to learn what everything did. Why was the powerful king so useless? Why was the queen so powerful? What was up with pawns, and why did Havanna keep killing them? They could be valuable in theory. I had to assume Havanna didn't care about them.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the house began to shake. I ran to the stairs to check on them, only to realize that there were no stairs. Then a crash came, and suddenly the huge window we had was gone, too. Two huge tractors had driven through them, even though their drivers were nowhere to be seen. The second floor was falling quickly, and we were falling with it.

It wasn't that far of a fall. We all could have survived. If I hadn't landed on one of the tractors, then been unable to stand up. We all would have survived, if Bridgette's leg wasn't already too broken for her to stand a chance at catching herself. We all could have survived, but some genius tribute had managed to ruin the Career's strategy with one fell swoop.

* * *

 **Rialta Vernell (18) D4F**

Huge amounts of shaking shook Tori and me out of our game. We were still picking out characteristics, names, and skills for our characters, but that ended when we heard bangs and screams from above. It sounded like all heck had broken loose, with shattering noises and disgusting crunches. Naturally, we had to check it out. Perhaps some Careers had died, and perhaps we would get some decent food out of the deal. The only way to find out was to check, and we couldn't afford not to find out.

We couldn't really afford to check, either. Again, Tori and I played rock-paper-scissors for it. I lost. I went upstairs a bit of the way to see that I couldn't go all the way upstairs. The door to the house from our room was blocked partially by debris, and the second floor was covering the first. Some Careers were cursing, while others were screaming and crying. I couldn't tell if it was a scream of physical pain or emotional, but I knew death was in the air. That couldn't happen without some death, and I knew enough about death to sense when it happened.

"It's amazing. It's _astounding._ The house fell down, apparently. The Careers are all freaking out. We could get out of here right now, or they might find us. But also... If they don't find us right now, nobody ever will. Who'd live in rubble?" I said to Tori, my excitement at sharing my discovery overpowering my tendency toward silence. I had to share this with her. It was a great turn of events.

"What? The house fell down? How are we not _dead?"_ Tori asked. I shrugged.

"Must not have totally fallen down, but still, it's enough to totally throw off the Careers. They're all screaming and freaking out. What should we do?" I pressed, trying to think of the best plan. The house was safe until we were boring. The outside wasn't safe, but we wouldn't have to worry about being boring. Both had pros and cons. I didn't know which to choose.

"If the house is partially up, let's stay here. The Careers might regroup, and we don't want to be passing them when they're so upset. They won't find us among the rubble, anyways," Tori said, and I knew she was right. As long as we stayed in our concrete fortress, we were as safe as we could be.

* * *

 **I know Rialta already got a POV, but she seemed important. Now we know how Swift's doing, random reader!**

 **16th Place: Bridgette Striker - Landed on Rubble**

 **So it's hard to tell what happened, due to Omri dying during his description, but Bridgette landed really badly on some rubble. She couldn't properly catch herself because of her leg. Bridgette was pretty neat, what with not being some overconfident snob. She had doubts and questions. I just didn't see her winning, and she was already weakened. Thank you to MewKitCat for Bridgette, who went out with a BANG.**

 **15th Place: Omri Rakesh: Landed on Rubble and Hit by Tractor**

 **RIP, dude. Omri was interesting. He didn't give me much to work with, which meant I had to make more on my own. He turned out kinda flat, which I blame on my writing. I never got a feel for him. I say this a lot, but foxfox12, feel free to resubmit this dude. Another author might do him better. I just thought it seemed really fitting to kill him now, since it was ~dramatic~. Thank you to foxfox12 for Omri. He really challenged my skills.**

 **Aaand there we have it! I've been planning this for months. MONTHS, I tell you. I discussed the physics with my dad to get the proper attack. I figured out the best angles and speeds. I can now tear down a house. Good times.**


	40. Shattered Spirits

**Rybbon Marbroox (D8Mentor)**

 _Here we go again._ Eight always seemed to lose. We just happened to get lucky with me. I wasn't surprised when both of my tributes died, but I did feel a little bit more of my heart die. Each time I mentored someone they died, and they weren't going to stop anytime soon. I was just lucky I had someone who would comfort me, before I got to be the person that comforted everyone who had lost a child.

* * *

 **District Eight**

We got off light with Caddis. His only living family was his grandfather, who mourned quietly, throwing himself into art that suddenly more people than ever were buying. Amelia was much the same. A girl with few friends, only her family really mourned her. The other kids finally felt sorry about how they treated her, realizing that she was just another little kid, one more human that the Capitol had control over.

* * *

 _ **Amelia Songbird**_ **(Rialta Vernell)**

I hardly noticed Amelia while she was with us. She was such a quiet kid that she could have still been alive and I wouldn't have known about it. I prayed that her death was easy. As little as I knew about deaths, I knew that some were painless.

* * *

 _ **Saige Lark**_ **(Edric Lyons)**

 _A product of society, or of herself?_ I had seen a monster when I killed the girl, but now, when I saw the picture, she didn't seem like one at all. She was just another girl, and I couldn't tell if my actions had been right or wrong.

* * *

 _ **Caddis Hibbett**_ **(Robin Ceviros)**

 _You should have been me._ My torn heart had finally began to heal, but it wasn't all the way there yet. Seeing Caddis in the sky ripped it right back open, and I almost found myself crying again. _Almost._ That was the first step of my true healing. _Almost._ Just like I had almost saved him.

* * *

 _ **Margherita Leiherr**_ ** (Havanna Gomez)**

 _Margherita who?_

* * *

 _ **Forrest Wonderland**_ **(Sylvia Blanc)**

 _No, he's not dead. He's just surpassed all of you. I'm just in a new body._ The Capitol seemed to think I was dead, but that was wrong. I was just living another way. They just didn't want to accept that I hadn't lost yet.

* * *

 ** _Polaris Flasher_** **(Swift Counter)**

 _That was a really random death._ None of us had pinpointed what had caused Polaris' death just yet. All of us had tried to guess. Only Havanna never made any realistic guesses, and only I seemed to be really affected by losing someone.

* * *

 ** _Eris Harmon_** **(Althea Fender)**

 _She didn't really deserve to die._ Eris had been killed because she annoyed the Careers. Sure, she had stabbed me in the shoulder, but that didn't mean she deserved to die. And if the Careers killed everyone who annoyed them, it was only a matter of time until I was on their hit list.

* * *

 _ **Derwin Ciervo**_ **(Orrick Jasso)**

 _I'm sorry I ran._ I couldn't tell if I would have been able to save Derwin or not. I probably would have been useless. I might even have gotten in the way. That didn't stop guilt from coming at me. _I ran when I could have tried to save my ally._

* * *

 ** _Bridgette Striker_ (Tori Harris)**

 _Wow. A lot of Careers are dead._ Rialta and I had been stressing over how to get out of this house, but it was beginning to seem like it wouldn't matter. We could probably outrun the Pack. It was getting destroyed.

* * *

 ** _Omri Rakesh_** **(Nyra Pickering)**

 _It wasn't supposed to be_ that _effective._ I couldn't believe we had taken down the _entire house._ Bits of wall were standing, but it had collapsed. And I had killed two people. _You killed two people._ I was actually a contender, and I felt less shame than I expected.

 **Althea Fender (16) D6F**

Two things stuck with me while the house fell. First, I was likely to die. I was already injured, so there wasn't much I could do to help myself. Second, if I did die, my spirit was definitely going to end up in one of the creepy dolls that filled the closets and bathroom. Some dolls were gorgeous, but these weren't. If I knew anything about inanimate objects, it was that dolls were either evil by themselves or haunted until they were evil, and I wasn't about to become a haunted doll. That being said, I had to live.

Somehow, I did. I fell to the ground with a harsh thud, then realized that I was alive. I also realized that a bunch of dolls had shattered around me, leaving me in a minefield of broken glass. Most of it was visible, but I knew some of it wouldn't be. There was bound to be a piece or two that my already damaged body would manage to find without seeing, and I didn't want to deal with that. Worst of all, though, I realized that one of the dolls hadn't shattered, and, naturally, it was the three-foot-tall, mourning-dress wearing, creepy-smile bearing demon doll. That got me to stand up.

"Don't get up so fast! Play with me. I have the tea all ready," the doll said. _The doll just said something to you. You're definitely asleep,_ I thought, but I couldn't believe it. I saw the doll pull some blue pills out of her dress and put them in the tea. "It's all ready! Just like people make it. Pills mixed in, so you fall asleep and become one of my friends." The doll mixed the pills in until they were unperceivable, then offered me the tea. At that point, I finally had it in me to scream. I also had it in me to throw the doll.

The doll flew about four feet before crashing to the ground, glaring at me. I was about to pee my pants when I saw Edric racing at me with a bat, quickly smashing the doll to bits. The thing destroyed, it screamed a bit, and then disappeared into the nether. I fell down on the ground, ignoring the pieces of glass that embedded themselves in me, while crying.

"That was freaking _real?_ I thought I was hallucinating," I cried. Gamemakers were cruel, but they weren't supposed to be _that_ cruel.

"Yeah, that was real. It seems crazy," Edric said, moving some glass out of the way to sit beside me after he had smashed the rest of the dolls. He helped me stand up after letting me cry for a while, in which time the rest of the Careers found us. Then he began picking glass out of me, helping me get the pieces I couldn't reach.

"Well, the house is rubble now, but the garage is still standing. I say that's the next place we go," Havanna said, after making sure I was okay. I just shrugged. I was supposed to be bubbly, but that couldn't live through the Games. I could only think about one thing: If I couldn't fight off a doll, how could I fight off a person?

* * *

 **Excel Witijenn (13) D3M**

We were eating a lot. I was also destroying a lot. Everybody had their tics, and mine was all the leafy vegetables. I destroyed cabbages. I destroyed lettuce. I destroyed kale, collard, and spinach. We had plenty of fruit and non-leafy vegetables left over, and I figured we could survive an entire Games with what we had. We had some gourds that were bigger than I was, for Heaven's sake! We'd be fine no matter how many things I stomped to a pulp. I hoped we would, at least. I could go ahead and die, but I didn't want to drag Turbo down with me.

A familiar feeling struck me, and I excused myself from the garden into the cornfield. Turbo nodded at me each time I left like that, but he never asked questions. I knew it didn't matter. I didn't feel safe going far, so I was certain that he heard the retching I produced while my body tried to suffer through another day without morphling. I didn't eat much at all, because I knew it was going to come back up in good time. My already thin form was dwindling, but I had to just let it happen. I couldn't keep food down even if I ate it.

When I looked up from my vomiting, a new sight approached me. Two scarecrows were running toward me. One seemed to be smiling. One seemed to be screaming. I ran away from both, heading towards Turbo until I realized something: If I ran to him, they would know where he was. Instead, I ran deeper into the cornfield. I'd find my way out in time if the scarecrows weren't harmful, and if they were, being lost was the least of my worries. I just had to avoid them for as long as possible.

Everywhere I turned, I heard both scarecrows approaching me. I was torn between my instinctual fear of death and my brain's distorted, learned desire for it. Little by little my first terror turned to neutrality, fear passing as I realized that everything was out of my control. I could only run until the sounds stopped or my legs gave out, but I was going to persevere until one of those things happened.

Or so I thought. My plans were disrupted when the smiling scarecrow popped out in front of me. He seemed friendly enough, but I didn't want to take chances. I was going to turn away when the screaming scarecrow popped out. Making a split-second decision, I ran toward the smiling scarecrow. Smiles were safer than screams.

Unless the scream was a scream of terror and loss, and the smile the smile of a madman.

* * *

 **Orrick Jasso (14) D12M**

I had ran like mad. As much as guilt had torn at me for running away from my ally, my fear of the Careers had kept me going until I had crossed the sheep pasture, passed the corncrib, passed a small garden, and ducked into another pasture. This one had barbed wire fences and a huge pond, so I assumed it also had animals in it. I ignored that fact. Instead, I kept going. I went past a fallen tree and a pile of rocks, and while I considered staying by the pond, that was too obvious. Instead I passed that, too, seeing what else the pasture held.

Wandering around the pasture for many long minutes, I began to get the feeling that I had made the wrong decision. I could turn back to the pond at any time, but I was losing precious daylight, spending time in the open while not seeing anything that could be of use to me. I wandered by a fence which was near a forest, but the humming sound that was there told me there was also a forcefield there, which was not something I wanted to constantly be near. A hole caught my interest for a while, and I made note of it, but it seemed to be a bad idea to willingly corner myself into a tiny space. _Only if you can hide yourself._

As I was beginning to lose hope in finding anything worthwhile, having jogged or walked most of the pasture's border and seeing myself getting close to the cornfield I had first come by, I thought I heard a noise. That stopped me in my tracks. I heard it again, then again, a muffled yell. So I went to investigate. It could have been a trap, but I was hoping it was an ally.

"Help me out!" a voice yelled up at me. I looked down to see Lorenk stuck in a deep hole, almost twice as deep as I was tall. He was jumping and trying to get my attention, and he had been successful. I put myself into full view.

"I'm too short! Do you have anything down there that could help out?" I asked, checking to see if he had anything with him. He didn't, much to my dismay. I sat down and thought for a while, not wanting to abandon another person and not wanting to leave him in a pit. That was worse than just leaving. Then I remembered something. The hole had a tractor by it. "I think I can help!"

With that statement, I ran off, newfound energy getting me back to the hole. Sure enough, the tractor was there, and sure enough, there was a chain connecting it to the carpet that was in the hole. I ran and walked back to the hole, too tired to run the whole distance, then threw the chain down. I could think of a hundred pranks that could be pulled, but this was not the time to use them.

Lorenk pulled on the chain, nearly pulling me into the hole with him. He let go when he saw me slip, and I had to think again. I took another look around and noticed where we were, just on the edge of the pasture. Right by the fences that separated us from the cornfield. I ran and tied the chain to a post, then told Lorenk to climb. Before he could get all the way up, I was greeting him. "I'm Orrick. Nice to meet you."

* * *

 **14.5th Place: Demon dolls and Althea's innocence**

 **RIP Althea's innocence. Rest in pieces demon dolls.**

 **14th Place: Excel Witijenn - Mauled by killer scarecrow**

 **Can't have a cornfield without hiding some monsters in there, can you? I've been wanting to introduce the friendly/murderous scarecrows for a while, and here we are. Excel was a pretty cool dude, but he had a ton of weaknesses. He was going through the end of withdrawal, and he was a loner. He also didn't understand how to tell a murderous smile apart from a friendly one. I was fond of Excel, since I deal with depression and LCS has autism, so he was easy to write, but he had no business winning. Thank you to 66samvr for Excel, who I could shamelessly kill.**


	41. The Old Sylvia Can't Come to the Phone

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

 _I can't believe that actually worked._ Every bit of my destructive plan made sense, or at least enough sense that I was willing to try it. Tractors were known for their traction, and I attacked the house at it's weakest points. Still, I couldn't believe that we had actually managed to take it down that well. We had no business making nearly that much damage, and I killed two Careers with one blow. It was amazing and it was impossible. _I bet you that'll get you some sponsors. I bet you guilt will come for you soon._

Appalachia had to be the voice of reason, telling me to get out of there as quickly as humanly possible. The Careers were going to be _ticked._ Luckily, I had jumped off the tractor before it hit the house, and Appalachia had done the same. As far as we knew, nobody had seen us. We lost the tractors in our efforts to wreak some havoc, but it was well worth it. It just wouldn't be worth the Careers' anger if they figured out that it was us that had destroyed their lovely home.

Even before I reached the barn, I saw a parachute coming my way. I jumped up and grabbed onto it, excited to see a beautiful _10_ engraved on it. It was a huge box, bigger than I was. In it, there sat two bags of chips. I was not pleased. Off all the things to send in this box that could eat me and still be hungry, why would somebody send food? It wasn't even a lot of food. It was enough to last a day, yes, but it was a huge disappointment. Until Appalachia pointed out the note.

 _The rest is in the barn,_ the note said. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew that I definitely wanted to find out. We sped up, now with something to look forward to as well as something to run away from. We were far enough away that the Careers wouldn't be suspicious of us anymore, but not far enough away that we were totally home free. They could be headed out for a hunt at any time, and we needed to be back into our safe little shelter.

 _Oh my God._ The barn did not disappoint. I had been expecting a tent, or maybe a cannon. _Omg please send a cannon next._ What I had not been expecting was a giant, electric green and stark black monster truck. One wheel was taller than I was. The whole truck was humongous. Flames were painted on the sides, and I could tell just by looking at it that it could do some serious damage. _Whoever sent this to me, thank you._

I walked up to the truck and hugged it. My arms didn't fit around it, but the message still showed. Then I climbed into it, helping Appalachia get in. It was a stick shift, with simple controls, just like the tractor. I turned the skull key I had been sent, and the engine revved. I whooped in excitement. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so sorry I doubted you," I yelled to the sky. This was throwing discreteness to the wind. This was another form of havoc.

* * *

 **Edric Lyons (18) D2M**

Moving from the house to the garage wasn't half bad. It took some time, since Althea needed extra care after being so shook up, but the short distance made for an easy trip. We gathered what supplies we could salvage from the rubble then took off with Althea and I in the back. I had been set as her guard, making sure that she wasn't attacked, and watching over Swift. None of us could fight at our best at the moment, but Havanna and I were in the best positions, setting both of us as guards over the rest.

Once Althea, Swift, and Havanna had settled in, I got up. Havanna was doing inventory on the food in the deep freeze, but I interrupted her. "I'm going to try and get the rest of the supplies from the house. See you in a bit," I said, beginning to leave. Havanna stopped me.

"Don't forget to bring a weapon. I doubt anyone will attack you, but it's better safe than sorry," she said, handing me one of the swords we had. I took it gratefully. I almost could have forgotten that I could have to kill someone out there. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

With sword in hand, I was off. I could only carry so many things back with one hand, but I would do my best. There was a lot of food left behind, and I was certain I could get some extra clean water from our faucet. I was going to grab that first, since it was our priority, before working my way to the rest of the stuff. _If you can,_ I thought to myself, seeing again the nasty state of the house. It was amazing we got out, and it was going to be hard to get back in.

But it was nothing I couldn't handle. I moved boards and steps as I went, making myself a neat little path through the rubble. I grabbed a couple things on the way, non-perishables, like cans of tuna and ketchup. It would be gross to live off those, but we could. Then I noticed a slightly easier path through the remnants of the house, and I switched to it. _The path of least resistance,_ I thought to myself, hoping there would be food along the way.

There was a lot more than that, though. There was some scattered pieces of trash, and some disheveled forks and knives. One steak knife was out of place, and I found it in the hands of another tribute.

* * *

 **Tori Harris (18) D9F**

 _The coast is clear._ Rialta had heard the Careers leaving the house on her last trip for supplies, and I was ready to follow her lead out of the house. There seemed to be no real purpose in staying there any longer; the Capitol would get bored of us sometime, and we were certainly going to run out of food. We would just be cornering ourselves willingly until we slowly starved to death, getting closer and closer to the beginning of my friend's curiosities.

 _My friend._ I let the world play through my head a couple times, pleased with it. I had made a friend in the Hunger Games. I hardly had any friends outside of them, and the ones I did had had recently started being jerks. I thought I was done with humanity and society, yet I had a friend. I wasn't sure if she was a friend I was wiling to die for. On one hand, I didn't want to let myself care about someone who could easily betray me that much. On the other hand, I wasn't particularly afraid of death, and in my death, I would be helping Rialta research it. I was on an interesting train of thoughts, one that could last me forever.

Now above ground, looking at the ruins surrounding us, I snapped out of my thoughts. We wanted to grab a couple things before we left. There couldn't be any harm in that; the Careers were gone, and they wouldn't need the food any more than we would. So we made ourselves a small little path through the debris and grabbing things along the way. I grabbed two knives. Rialta grabbed some chicken noodle soup. Neither of us grabbed any water. There was probably some in the Arena, and if not, there was some falling down around us in the form of snow. We could melt that somehow, so water wasn't worth our time at the moment.

What was worth our time, however, was the Career that I just about ran into when I turned around. He was far bigger than I was, and he had a sword on him. There was no way I could win in a fight against him. It was pretty unlikely that I could successfully run away, but there was the slightest chance that I could hold him off for long enough to slip past him, leaving Rialta cornered in the room behind me. I couldn't do that, but I could rush him full speed ahead and hope for the best.

As I had hoped, I caught him by surprise. He tried to hop backwards but tripped over some rubble. I dropped to my knees and tried to stab him in the chest, but it was far from successful. He easily got his sword between us and shoved me off of him, making me lose my advantage. "Run!" I yelled to Rialta, giving her permission to abandon me. Edric took advantage of my distraction, fighting dirtier than most Careers would dare. He stabbed me in the throat. I probably only had seconds. But I spent every dying breath stabbing the threat to Rialta in the arms.

* * *

 **Sylvia Blanc (15) D7F**

My face was in the sky last night. I processed it quietly. I was supposed to be dead, not living on in a new body. Nobody would ever know that I was alive. If I won, Sylvia Blanc would be named as Victor of the 21st Hunger Games. That wasn't right. Sylvia Blanc was the woman I loved, not the man I was. I had transferred consciousness to a new being, not blipped out of existence. I was still alive and kicking, and ready to wreak havoc on everything that had caused my girlfriend and me this pain.

 _Why?_ I was not usually this violent of a man. At times I could be a bit outgoing, and I was more likely to fight than flee, but I rarely sought out danger. I tended to be a little bit of a peacemaker, able to calm things down instead of stirring them up. But somebody else had stirred this rage that was now awake inside of me, driving me to track down whoever it was that had killed my old flesh and forced me to occupy the new. Somebody else could have started this, but I was going to be the one to finish it, once and for all.

 _One female. Havanna Gomez. Career Pack leader, probably, now that Polaris is dead._ That was who had killed me. That was the person who I now sought revenge upon. I could take multiple options. I could kill her now, I could kill all the Careers and save her for last, or I could wait. I could let her slowly work her way up to second until the District Seven male - _female,_ I reminded myself - suddenly took over, throwing a wrench in her plans. Destroying her plans entirely. All of those would be fine methods of revenge, the last the best for a patient human.

I was not a patient human. There were two things stopping me from killing Havanna: I didn't know where she was, and she would have allies with her. A kamikaze mission could be fun, and it would definitely get my point across, but not as well as winning would. Not as well as addressing the nation with what it created and who now lived inside it ever could. I was going to win the Games, and even then I would not be done.

The Careers could not rest, for in their sleep, I would find them. Then the Capitol would come, for trying to kill me and for tearing my girlfriend apart emotionally. Death had a name, and its name was Forrest.

* * *

 **Sick character development, yo. I'm usually not quite this weird, but I thought it would be a fun thing to play with.**

 **13th Place: Tori Harris - Neck stabbed by Edric**

 **Tori was something else. She was an extremely fleshed out character, and I felt like I had a sense of what was going on with her. For a while I considered making her my Victor, because she was depressed, and I would find it hard to kill someone with depression (it would feel almost like I was committing suicide). However, I got an idea. A wonderful, terrible idea. I figured it would be a cool way to complete her arc by having her die for a friend that wouldn't betray her, instead of having her get betrayed one last time. Thank you to Fire and Starlight for Tori, who was a great write. She had a real shot.**

 **And also shoutout to (s)he-who-will-not-be-named for making me figure out the schematics behind sending a sponsor gift of a monster truck**


	42. The Children's Blizzard

**Lorenk Pritchett (16) D9M**

Orrick seemed to be a decent kid. I didn't particularly like him or his loudness, but I appreciated that he had saved my life, a fact that was reinforced as more snow started to fall around us. I would have definitely died if I had been stuck without shelter in a blizzard, which was what it seemed to be becoming. Snow was falling thickly, and I knew I had to get shelter.

The only problem we ran into was where to find it. Orrick said we'd be safe in the sheep shed, since that was where he had been last, but it was across an entire pasture, and I didn't trust that we'd be safe trying to cross in the snow. We could still see pretty well, but I didn't know how long that would last. I didn't trust the Gamemakers to send us anything less than a deadly blizzard, and I knew it wouldn't take long to escalate. We had to strike gold, and we had to do it soon.

Luckily, we did. After a long time searching, and after Orrick was visibly beginning to lose hope, we found a random trailer in the pasture, and I had no idea where it had come from. I also didn't care. I wasn't in logic mode; I was in survival mode. We had to get into it before we'd be home free, but there didn't seem to be an easy way to get in. Orrick tried the door, but it didn't work. He fiddled with the handle a bunch, but he couldn't get the door to work.

I grabbed onto the handle and tried it. There was a random nail in it, and I pushed on it. I figured it couldn't hurt, and it didn't. It actually got the door open, allowing us to go inside. We were less than exuberant about what we saw. It was a dingy, small trailer, with a couple of blankets and some beds. There wasn't much else, but it was enough.

"I get the big bed!" Orrick cried excitedly, flopping down on the giant bed in the first room. There were bunks in the other room, a bathroom, and surprisingly enough, a microwave. It didn't work.

"We should share a bed. We'll be warmer," I said coldly. I didn't intend to kill Orrick's fun, but I did want to live, whatever it was going to take.

"Oh. You're right. Here, I'll grab a bunch of blankets," Orrick replied, much calmer. I nodded and began to go through the cabinets between the beds. I found some old dresses, some blankets, and a random, four-foot doll. I didn't like the doll, so I closed its cabinet, grabbing the blankets beforehand. I didn't want to have to open it again.

Orrick looked at me, bright-eyed. "We should make a fort."

* * *

 **Turbo White (15) D5M**

Excel never came back from throwing up. I wanted to assume the best, like I always did, but I didn't know what the best was. Either he had left me, which was terrible, he was lost, which was terrible, or he had died, which was terrible. Any reason why he wouldn't have come back was bad, so I didn't decide on any of them. I just pretended that he was on his way back to me, and that I would have to live by myself until he managed to find me. How hard could it be?

It could be hard. I didn't really know what to do without a leader; I had spent my entire life doing what I was told. It was the easiest way for me to live. I got my job done quietly, even though I barely understood it, and then I was done. I went home quietly and did what my parents asked of me. It was all I needed to do and all I was really capable of. I didn't think I would be able to switch to leading myself very quickly, but I knew I would have to. It was one of the only things that I knew for sure.

Pretty quick, my priorities switched from being a leader to plain living. Snow was falling from the sky, and there was a lot of it. I didn't really know where to go to hide from it, but I had to choose a spot quick. The snow was thick; there had to be an inch on the ground already. I couldn't see far in front of me, and I was happy I could see at all. I was painful cold, though, and I knew I needed some shelter. I had to find it now or I never would.

I looked around, but there was no shelter to be seen. I knew the big corncrib was nearby, but I didn't know which direction it was. I knew the cornfield was one way and the corncrib the other, but I didn't know which was which. I walked one direction and felt the corn, so I tried to turn around, but I ran into more corn. I kept turning until I got out of the corn, but then I really didn't know where I was, so I just walked and hoped for the best. I seemed to be getting nowhere fast. I sat down and tried to think. Then I saw Excel coming my way, and I got ready just to follow his lead again.

* * *

 **Appalachia Sooner (12) D12F**

Nyra had another one of her ideas. It was an interesting idea, and I wasn't sure whether to go along with it or not. On the one hand, it could easily kill a bunch of our biggest enemies, the Careers. On the other hand, it could also easily kill one or both of us. I wasn't too worried about Nyra. I had spent the whole Games as well as most of my life steeling myself to losing friends and allies. I was worried about myself. If the Careers found us out, or if we happened to stay in the garage for too long, I could end up dead. That was the only negative outcome.

"Why do I have to come along again?" I asked Nyra. She could drive the truck by herself, couldn't she? And then I could help her find her way back by yelling a bunch. It would be as easy as that.

"Because I am small and the truck is big. I need YOU to work the brakes, on the off-chance we need them, so that I don't go careening into the nowhere," Nyra replied. I had to admit that she was right. The truck was big, and she was small.

I considered for a bit. Were the risks worth the gain? _They've gotta be. Look at the sponsor gift for killing two Careers,_ I realized. If we killed some more, we'd be rich. We'd be set for an entire Games. "Okay. Let's go," I said, going to the truck. Nyra cheered and went in with me.

Nyra knew how to drive, and she could see, but I was on my knees, pushing the gas and brakes as needed. She drove the truck straight into the garage, which wasn't too hard. It was pointed straight at it, so we got there even though there was very low visibility. The snow was deep enough that some cars would have problems, but not our monster truck.

Sure enough, the monster truck went right through the garage. And into a tree. We couldn't see the tree in time to brake, so we had to jump out of the truck and make a run for the barn, our only real safe spot. We ran as well as we could, trying to follow the truck's path, but it got snowed over as we went. Nyra and I stuck together, but the snow was so deep we couldn't go very quickly. My foot got caught in a drift, and I slipped.

I stood up and couldn't see Nyra. I heard some faint noises, but the wind was screaming so loudly I couldn't tell if they were Careers or my ally. "No!" I yelled, screaming all of my emotions out. I tried to find my way back to the path, but my fingers and toes were already going numb. I couldn't see anything except the goshdarn snow that was covering us. _One bad decision. One bad decision._ One bad decision, out of all the ones I could have made. "Frick everything!" I had gone through Hell and back, and I was dying once it froze over.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

"You have got to be $& ^% KIDDING ME!" I yelled into the night. We had _just_ moved into the garage. We had _just_ moved all of our #*$& stuff in. We were finally ready to sit down and strategize again, and our garage got KNOCKED OVER JUST LIKE THE HOUSE. What was happening? Did the gods hate us? Did the Gamemakers think we all deserved to die? Were we, for whatever reason, not allowed to win? There was no explaining it. There had to be some reason that every building we touched fell down. I was going to go insane.

"Whoa, Havanna, calm down," Edric said to me, safely back from his hunt. I was grateful for that, at least. The snow was falling down a ton outside of what used to be our garage, but he had made it back, and he had made a kill. We were almost done with the forsaken Games. We were almost done with the _definitely rigged_ Games. I glared at the Gamemakers, even though I knew they couldn't tell I was glaring at them. "If we make too much noise, the tributes might get away. Let's see if we can follow them."

Edric's tone and words worked. I calmed down a bit, even though I would have without him. I would just be ticked for a while and hate the Capitol. "All right. Swift, Edric, you'll work together to gather supplies. Althea and I will try to find the tributes. Go about your business," I said, knowing they wouldn't care that I was being bossy. Sometimes they seemed annoyed at me when I spat demands, but they never seemed truly mad, and if anybody could read people, it was me.

While Swift and Edric tried to grab all of the supplies, I went to find Althea. She had been checking out the bikes while I was by the deep freeze, and she had been pretty close to where the truck had gone through and destroyed the garage. There was a chance she had been hurt by the rubble, which I didn't want to happen. She would have to die at some point, but it wasn't beneficial for me for her to die yet. I was calm again, and I was strategic again, and I didn't want another ally dead.

I found Althea on the ground, curled into a little ball. There was some wood over her, which led me to believe that she had been hurt in the crash. She began to uncurl when I got to her, and I saw blood on the snow. Althea smiled at me sadly.

"The truck barely got me. It broke my leg, but I can go on, no problem," Althea said to me, paling quickly in the snow. I could see the pain in her eyes, and she was still bleeding.

I got down on my knees beside her, and she began to cry. She knew what I knew: She wasn't going to make it. Even though I was annoyed, and even though I wanted to curse at the Gamemakers, I wasn't a monster. That could wait. I gathered her into my arms and let her die in peace. It was the least I could do.

* * *

 **Althea Fender (16) D6F**

 _You have got to be kidding me._ I wasn't easily annoyed or frustrated. I was usually quiet and accepting. But I was being pushed pretty far when I got hit by a truck. I had done everything right. I hardly even got hit by the truck. I should have been able to live through it. The Careers would have turned on me at some point, but I could have escaped. I could have at least planned for that one. What was someone supposed to do against something as surprising as a truck? What was I supposed to do when wood fled into my already damaged body? A Six got into the Careers just to get screwed over by a surprise.

Frustrated and sad tears streamed down my face when Havanna knelt by me. If she was showing me compassion, I was definitely dying. I was just so mad. I was lucky that I wasn't in any pain. The snow numbed any physical pain that I could have felt through the shock of a severely broken leg. I was just freezing to death while bleeding out from multiple wounds. Painlessly. I sobbed and cried until I gave up. There was nothing I could freaking do.

* * *

 **Some days I'm a normal person, and some days I kill three people in one chapter. What can I say? I get impatient for the finale just like my readers :P**

 **12th Place: Turbo White - Froze to death**

 **Realistically, it takes a bit to freeze to death. It can take as little as half an hour, but that would take a while. Turbo fell unconscious and kinda gave up, though, which really sped up the process. Turbo was a cool dude, but there was no way he was going to win. He was terminally stupid, and I still avoid letting LCS win. Thank you to LCS for submitting a tribute when I was getting super impatient for tributes.**

 **11th Place: Appalachia Sooner - Froze to death**

 **Did you know that in blizzards you sometimes can't see your own hand in front of your face, and you can freeze to death and practically go deaf real quick? Because you can. Appalachia got a raw deal. Nyra totally didn't want to kill her, but you can't account for everything that went wrong. Appalachia was totally a fighter, but again, she couldn't really win. I _do_ allow twelve-year-olds to win, but it's not likely, because I try to keep things semi-realistic. Thank you to paperairline for Appalachia, who really contributed to this story.**

 **10th Place: Althea Fender - A lot of things (hit by a truck, froze a bit, and being crushed)**

 **Althea was pretty cool. She wasn't some crazy complicated, huge backstory tribute; she was a normal girl. I appreciated that, but it also made her hard to write, or make really come to life. She did stand a chance, and getting into the Careers was a huge power move, but there really is nothing you can do against getting hit by a truck and then covered by debris while freezing** **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Thank you to Red Roses1000 for Althea, who was a realistic young lady.**


	43. Hellfire

**Sol Johnson (D5Mentor)**

 _Why do I keep getting the cute ones?_ Margherita didn't use me or listen to me. She was so confident, so bright, and so full of worth. She deserved so much better than what she got. Turbo was too dumb to know he was dying even while he was in the process of it. I could hardly handle their deaths. Instead of focusing on them, I went to a bar.

* * *

 **District Five**

The Whites managed to carry on without Turbo, but it wasn't a pretty thing. Every family member took more shifts, and the factory was quieter while his friends mourned. The boys at school didn't know what to do when they weren't catcalling Margherita, but some of them learned German, and all of them figured out what her insults meant.

* * *

 **Alesandro Ferme (D3Mentor)**

I actually thought Eris had a chance. I was a Three, and I thought one of my tributes actually had a chance. I should have known better. She was a hotshot and a hothead; she was bound to get herself killed. I knew Excel was going to die. I was just glad that he died without taking any more drugs. It was probably better for him than living.

* * *

 **District Three**

As much as the Harmons liked to pretend, they missed Eris. They pretended to be stoic about her death, but they appreciated everything Three gave them, keeping the gifts as memories of their lost daughter. The Witijenns didn't know what they lost, and they didn't pretend to. They were happy to send one less boy to school, but the kids in Three knew better than the adults. Even they knew they had lost something.

* * *

 **Rodney Sanchez (D6Mentor)**

 _There it goes._ My first shot at mentoring, and I was a failure. I should have known it was going to happen. I wasn't hardened yet, not as much as some of the Victors. I cried over Omri when he died, knowing that he deserved better, and I cried even more over Althea. The life of a Victor wasn't one for me. It just meant that I bonded with kids before their funerals.

* * *

 **District Six**

Mr. Fender never fully recovered from the loss of his daughter. While he kept the flower shop alive, it was clear that his heart wasn't in it. Instead of Capitolite buyers, he had to get customers from Six, and a lot of his income came from donations. People knew what it meant to lose a child. The Rakesh family had a harder time financially; they lost their main source of income and they lost a son. Mrs. Rakesh's tears and Mr. Rakesh's attempts to soothe her reminded the District what their sacrifice protected them from.

* * *

 _ **Excel Witijenn**_ **(Robin Ceviros)**

 _Not another one._ I didn't want anyone to die, but I especially didn't want the young tributes to die. I was hoping more of the cannons had been from the Careers, even as I recognized how morbid it was to hope for cannons. I just couldn't shake the fact that the little kids deserved this the least.

* * *

 _ **Tori Harris**_ **(Rialta Vernel)**

 _A noble sacrifice. May your life after death be as beautiful as I believe it to be._ I didn't know what Tori had coming to her, but I knew it would be good. Anybody who died saving an ally deserved that. Tori was more than that to me, but I wanted to pretend she wasn't. I wanted to pretend her death didn't make me cry.

* * *

 _ **Turbo White**_ **(Sylvia Blanc)**

 _Not one of the Careers? Dang it._ Turbo was so innocent. He didn't deserve anything the Games threw at him. The Careers did. I hoped that one of them would be next to die. They were the ones that deserved death, and they were the ones that had death coming to them.

* * *

 _ **Appalachia Sooner**_ **(Nyra Pickering)**

 _Sorry Appalachia._ That wasn't one of my ulterior motives. My ulterior motives were fun team-building activities, not morbid death sentences. Appalachia wasn't supposed to die. She wasn't supposed to get the short end of the stick, getting lost in the snow while I happened to find a shelter. She was supposed to be with me, winning the Games. She was supposed to be alive.

* * *

 _ **Althea Fender**_ **(Havanna Gomez)**

 _You didn't deserve this._ Any of the Careers that died died in honor, serving their District. The outer-District kids died honorable deaths, allowing a true warrior to be proven in their victory. That was what One told the Careers, and it was what I didn't listen to. I wanted to win because I could, not because children should die. Althea didn't have to die.

* * *

 **Swift Counter (18) D4M**

As we walked out of what used to be the garage, I realized that we had made a terrible mistake. Like we should have expected, the blizzard was still going on outside, leaving us blind through the dense snow. We couldn't see much of anything, but we tried to go on a little ways nonetheless. That was another terrible mistake, because we quickly found that we couldn't see the garage's remains anymore. I sighed and turned to Edric.

"What should we do?" I yelled over the snow, relieved that it was beginning to settle. I could actually hear myself over it. "We seem pretty lost!" I was never one to be a pessimist. I smiled through thick and thin, never slowing down, no matter what the world threw at me. That was going to end when I, the Four, from the land of warm weather, got lost in a blizzard. Even the Two didn't seem sure of what to do.

"Let's find whatever shelter we can and hide there until the blizzard's over! Try and get back to the garage!" Edric cried, his voice fighting to reach me. I nodded habitually before yelling my agreement. It took some doing to get used to the noise, but I was slowly learning how to adjust.

With the snowflakes above me, pounding on my flesh and distracting me from looking anywhere except forwards, and forcing my ears to be practically deaf to my surroundings, I didn't notice a parachute that was coming for me until it hit me on the head. Even then, it took me a second to process it, and a second more to realize that it was a sponsor gift. I opened it up to find an adorable, grey kitten. It had folded ears and big green eyes, and it couldn't have been older than six weeks. It was mewing, likely because of the frigid air, and I tucked it inside my shirt.

"Edric! I just got a sponsor gift! It's a kitten! It's going to die," I shouted, not showing Edric the kitten. I didn't want it to be exposed to the wind any more than it had to. After that sentence, I realized my true power. "Whoever sent this, I love it! His name is Catsparov. Please help us find him a good home so he doesn't freeze!"

Another sponsor gift came down, but this time, I was looking for it. It was tied to a string, and I followed the string. It seemed like a simple enough instruction. I followed the string to a ramshackle building, made of blindingly white boards that almost blended in with the snow, except for the brown spots that peeled away. Another thing that made it stick out was the tribute that was in it, glaring us down as we approached, holding her weapon tight to her chest.

* * *

 **Robin "Mute" Ceviros (18) D12M**

I heard a lot of cannons go off. I saw snow filter in through the door. Even though I wasn't the brightest kid in the world, and I didn't know too much about the outside, I could easily put two and two together. Twelve had lost a lot of children to blizzards and whiteouts, and I was sure we would keep losing more. I wasn't too worried about the kids in Twelve, though. I was trying to keep snow from getting inside my home.

As nice as it was to have shelter, my corncrib wasn't doing much for me. The walls were closed in, but they were thin, and snow could easily get above or below them. The door hung awkwardly to the side and didn't like to close all the way, allowing more snow in. I had to find ways to patch that. I used couch cushions to plug any holes in the wall the best I could, and I used the actual couch to force the door shut. I didn't know how to build things as well as Capitol engineers, but I knew how to fix problems for long enough that people wouldn't get mad about them, and I wouldn't get hurt by them.

Once I had that all figured out, I had to decide how to keep myself warm. Luckily, I already had a plan for that. I went to the dilapidated brown futon that smelled like death in the back of the corncrib and tucked myself under it. It wasn't exactly a perfect blanket, but it was more than enough for me. It kept snow off me, which was the most important thing, but it also kept me warm.

Underneath my makeshift blanket, I almost fell asleep. It was a miracle that I didn't, because in all likelihood, I wouldn't have woken back up. People who fell asleep in the cold stayed asleep. Fortunately, a small beeping noise kept me from reaching unconsciousness. I could hear wind pounding outside, but it was muffled by the walls. The walls were echoing the beeping noise, informing me that it was coming from inside.

Begrudgingly, I crawled out from underneath my cover. I didn't like to be annoyed, but it was hard to be happy dragging my body into the cold. What I found fixed that. A nice little parachute was in my fort, a lovely _12_ engraved on the surface. I picked it up and opened it, delighted to find a little toy gun in it. It was as long as my arm and neon green, meaning I couldn't take it outside. That didn't matter. I had seen the rich kids from Twelve playing with these things, and by the weight, I could tell what it was. It was a watergun full of water, which meant I could drink.

I didn't have any words to say thank you to the sender of the toy, but I could still show gratitude. I jumped up and did a happy dance. I hopped around the room excitedly, holding the gun over my head and grinning like an idiot. It was all I could do, and when another parachute fluttered down, I knew I was making the Capitol happy. The second parachute had a caramel apple. I did another happy dance.

* * *

 **Edric Lyons (18) D2M**

 _Well that's rude._ The Capitol had led us into the trap. I didn't even know that that was allowed until I walked right into it. Most of the time, notes and sponsor gifts in the Hunger Games were censored, making it nearly impossible to help a tribute much through notes. While the string wasn't a note, I had figured it would have been just as censored as any other note. Obviously, it wasn't. I learned that when I looked straight at the girl from Seven, holding a flamethrower, standing mere feet away from me. She was standing even closer to my ally.

 _Fight or flight._ The tribute was going to attack us. She was glaring at us, holding her flamethrower, getting ready to strike. One of us was probably going to die, but there was a chance that one of us would live. One of us could easily overpower her, or one of us could run away while the other got roasted. I was the one that was going to get to make that decision. I was the person that was farther away. I wished that I wasn't. I wished that my life was in someone else's hands, because if it was, I wouldn't have to choose between dying or living a worthless life.

 _Life or humanity?_ That was what my choice was really coming down to. I could tackle Swift out of the way, leaving myself an open target but making Swift an easy exit. Or I could run, leaving Swift to die but leaving myself alive. I tried to think of what my father would have said. I knew what my uncle would say. He would tell me to kill Swift and run. He might even tell me to kill Swift myself, not let the Seven kill him. I didn't know what my father would say. He loved me, but he also valued his morals.

 _Your father wouldn't have gotten you into this mess._ That was one thought that hit me with total clarity, one that I didn't have to consider. My father wouldn't have gotten me into this mess. He wouldn't have wanted me to volunteer, and he wouldn't have wanted me to kill that girl. My uncle would have encouraged it. They were opposites of each other, yin and yang, creating a mess of a boy that just needed a good role model. I didn't know which one had the stronger influence on me.

I didn't know if it was respect for my father or spite for my uncle that caused me to tackle Swift. Even as my flesh charred through the snow, despite the flurry going on around me, my thoughts were jumbled. I heard Swift's screams. I felt him run. I didn't blame him. He knew I was as good as dead. He knew what I had done. I could only hope that if my father woke up, he would know I didn't let him down.

* * *

 **9th Place: Edric Lyons - Flamethrowered by Sylvia/Forrest/Whatever**

 **Edric was pretty neat. He had a really interesting "thing" going for him in that he wasn't set in his ways; he was constantly torn between thoughts and morals. He could be hard to write at times, but he had a set arc, which made his scenes easier than some. He really did stand a chance, and ninth is pretty swell. I just felt that he needed a chance to complete his arc and come back to the light side. Thank you to TitanMaddix for Edric, who was a breath of fresh air compared to some.**

 **In other news, someone sponsored Sylvia a flamethrower**

 **In other other news, top eight!**


	44. Final Eight Interviews

**Marcelene Chaplin (Interview)**

"Hello, boys and girls, men and woman, non-binaries and binaries! And welcome to the one - the only! - the twenty-first Hunger Games Final Eight Interviews. Today, I'm talking to you, you little boy squatting in front of the TV. I'm talking to you, girls staring and wishing you had a dress like this. I'm talking to you, non-binaries who constantly get questioned about what that means. But even more importantly, I'm talking to each and every one of the families of the final eight tributes, because who wouldn't love to see their reactions to their children getting so far?" I said brightly, annoyingly stressing each of my words. I had practiced them a bunch, trying to "get the Capitol more involved" like Ginger wanted, and still, they sounded dumb. It didn't matter, though. Capitolites are dumb.

Walking towards the door of the Gomez family in One, I noticed its placement. It wasn't particularly large, rather, it stuck out from some One houses due to how small it was. There wasn't much land around it, and it was a ways away from the Academy. I couldn't understand why a Career would live in such a dinky house, but I wasn't here to judge. I was here to interview. "Hello, Mr. Gomez! I'm Marcelene Chaplin, here to interview you about your daughter. Did you know she was going to make it this far in the Games from the beginning?" I asked, holding my hand out. I liked to start with an easy question before going to the hard ones.

"Of course we did! Our little girl Havanna is a fighter. She always has been. She's fought against the odds from the beginning. Do you know how to fight to be in the Academy? They didn't like my little girl. Not the right skin tone. But she fought for her spot there, just like she's going to fight for her Victory," Mr. Gomez replied, gusto filling his whole being. I was impressed. It was clear their family wasn't too well-off, but they had money and time to support their child's dreams. I noticed Havanna's mother waving in the back, but I was on a time limit. "We love you, _mi hija_!"

After One, I was off to Four, which was an odd development. Usually at least one of the Twos was still alive. I walked up to a nicer house this time, and I knew what to expect. Some parents were going to brag to me about their child, and I wasn't going to be too much of a sass this time, because Ginger wanted the Final Eight Interviews to be nice. I knocked on the strong, wooden door, hearing my knocks reverberate. "Hello! Marcelene Chaplin here. Do you have any words of advice for Swift?" I asked the girl who opened the door.

"Yes! Come home, Swift. I miss you. I love you," the girl replied, and I got the feeling she wasn't actually family. She left right after that blushing, and we panned in to the actual parents and brother.

"Swift, you've got this. Don't trust Havanna for a second, and stay safe," the helpless Counter family said to a deaf camera. Swift couldn't hear their warnings about his treacherous ally. He could just hope he wasn't the next one she stabbed in the back.

"Now, we're still in Four, but we're all the way across the District. Fewer beaches are here; this is the industry section!" I announced as I walked up to another nice house. This was wasn't quite as large, and there was grime on the doors, but it was still nicer than many I had seen. "Let's see what the Vernell family has to say about their daughter. Mrs. Vernell, do you think your daughter is going to win?"

Mrs. Vernell jumped noticeably when I said that, glaring slightly at me. "Of course she is! She can't die. Life doesn't give us what we want, and she wants to learn about death. Now take your shoes off. I just cleaned, and I'm not having the floors get messy!"

I walked out. "No need to take my shoes off if I don't go inside," I whispered to the camera as I got on the train to Seven. I didn't know what to expect from Sylvia's family, especially since she had just had such an interesting turn of events in the Games. I just hoped they were functional. I knocked on the light door to a small, well-kept house and got an immediate answer. "I'm Marcelene. What do you think of your daughter's arc so far in the Games?" Arc was hardly the right word to use, but it got the point across.

"She... She seems to be doing quite well so far. I hope she keeps it up. Sylvia, I love you. I work too much, I know. Come back and I'll fix that," Mr. Blanc said to me. I could feel my heart tearing. He wasn't really asking for his daughter to come back. He was making his last amends with somebody he had already accepted as lost.

Like I expected, Lorenk's house wasn't very nice. It was small and coated on the outside with dust, surrounded by fields on all sides. I knocked and, surprisingly, had to wait for an answer. I assumed the Nines had something better to do than be interviewed. "I'm Marcelene, here to interview you about Lorenk, who's in the Final Eight. What do you have to say to your son?"

"Oh. Hi Lorenk! You can't see this, can you? Well, thanks for allying with Amelia. I know you did it because she reminded you of me. You're doing great so far. I really like that Orrick kid. Anyways, come back soon! I miss you," the girl who had answered the door replied. I assumed she was his sister, seeing as she was far too young to be a parents.

I did not know what to expect at the Pickering residence. On the one hand, their child seemed pretty rebellious. On the other, they probably didn't want their child to be killed. I hoped they acted on the latter. Their home was humble, but I could see its appeal. It was a pastel blue, homey and cute. I raised my hand to knock on the door, and when I did, I heard some papers being frantically shuffled before the cheap wooden door opened. "Marcelene Chaplin here! Interviewer for the Final Eight. What do you have to say to Nyra?"

"Oh, sorry about that wait! We had to clean up. Please, do come in," Nyra's mother said to me. I followed her in politely, pretending not to notice the American flag photo sticking out from under a book and deliberately positioning myself between it and the camera. Mrs. Pickering continued. "I always knew Nyra had a good chance. She's such a brave little girl. There's no way she'd let the Games stop her." Love radiated from the woman's eyes, and I knew her words really were sincere.

The Eleven boy's house, Robin was his name, wasn't nice. It was large, but it was... immaculate. There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere, and I didn't like it. The outside was perfect, and the inside was pristine, or at least as much as the windows showed. _That isn't natural._ I knocked on the eerily clean, white door, that had no business looking clean since it was white, and waited for an answer. It took a while to come. "Hey there! This is Marcelene Chaplin, followed by the entire Capitol. We're here to interview you as the nearest living family to Robin! What do you have to say?"

"Hm...? Robin? You tell that son-of-a-gun to get back here. His chores are waiting for him, and I'm not pleased with him for leaving for so long," the man replied, and I decided right then to cut the interview short. I wanted nothing to do with the large, disgruntled man looming over me and threatening his own family. I didn't want Robin to have to deal with it, either, but that was a problem for another time.

Surprisingly, Orrick's house was nice. It wasn't huge, and it wasn't totally living area, but there was an entire floor dedicated to living area, with the lower one dedicated to use as a small tool shop. Since it was a shop, I could walk right in instead of knocking, so I did. An employee greeted me brightly, obviously aware that I was a Capitolite. "Hello! Are you one of the Jassos?"

"I am! Aluma Jasso. What can I do for you today?" the girl replied to my question, her smile never faltering. I felt like I was in a competition with her, my interview smile against her customer service smile.

"I'm Marcelene Chaplin, here to interview you about Orrick, now that he's in the Final Eight. What do you have to say to him?"

With that question, I won the competition. The girl's smile dropped immediately, and she left. I waited around patiently, and, soon enough, another employee popped up. "Sorry about that. Aluma lost a friend to the Games, so she has a hard time talking about them. Anyways, we're really proud of Orrick. He's an incredibly brave boy to make it this far, and we all miss him. Orrick, the kids still eat mayonnaise donuts sometimes to commemorate you. Come home."

I left. It was all I could do. So many people were begging their children not to die. I could hardly take it. I wasn't the most sympathetic of all people, but I could recognize the pain in everyone's eyes. I called for a commercial break while I composed myself, not wiping any tears away. I couldn't have the camera crew see me cry about the Games. When the commercial was done and I had said my piece, then I could break.

"Well, there you have it! Did you expect what everyone said? Did any of these interviews surprise you? Send some gifts for your favorite tributes, or send a note with what families said, whatever you want! Go ahead and watch the Games! Merry Hunger Games, everyone," I said, and the cameras turned off. I went to my personal room on the train and ordered a plate of chocolates, cursing myself with each one I ate. I was eating to solve my emotions while around me there were people who couldn't eat at all.

* * *

 **Marcelene is woke, y'all**

 **Shout-out to my shout-out to my mistake about calling Robin the 12M last chapter. He feels 12 to me, but alas, he is an 11. Whoops.**


	45. Flicker

**Rialta Vernell (18) D4F**

 _I regret everything._ I was cold. I was wet. It was nasty outside. I thought blankly to myself that I could have remained in the basement, but I couldn't. It was packed with snow, the stairs to it were snowy, and rubble covered it. My shirt was freezing to my body, but I couldn't take it off. I would just die. My pants were frozen. My socks were frozen. I could practically feel the frostbite setting in, and I couldn't even cry. I knew that if I did, the tears would freeze to my face.

One sponsor gift changed that. I opened up a parachute to find nothing other than a beautiful flamethrower. It was wonderful. I almost did cry, and I could almost afford it. I had heat. I could warm myself up. The flamethrower was large, meaning it probably had a lot of fuel. I could only imagine how long it was going to last me. I could only imagine how much I could warm up my frozen limbs and clothing. I actually had a chance again.

Two thoughts collided in my mind. One: I had to warm myself up quickly, or else I would die. Two: If I warmed myself too quickly, aka touched the flame from the thrower, I would also die. I sat and considered what to do, knowing every second that it took me to plan was a second closer to death. It took me longer than I thought it should have to figure out what I had to do, and when I did, I almost had to laugh at my foolishness. It didn't matter if I made a scene; I had a flamethrower. Most people couldn't beat that in a fight.

I stood up, forcing my legs to bend. They were pretty stuck, and I couldn't really feel them, but they supported me. I limped awkwardly out of the pile of house that I was in, and then I turned around. I looked at the glory that had once sheltered me, said a silent pray to nothing in thanks for it, and then held the flamethrower to it. It took a second to light, which I assumed was spent burning snow, then began to smoke. Then a flame started up, first a spark, then a blazing fire, and I knew I had been successful.

I held my hand out to the flame, trying to warm my frozen fingers. I didn't feel any warmth, so I eased in a little bit closer. I didn't want to burn myself. I had to unfreeze myself. Still, I felt no warmth. I inched closer again. No warmth again. The cycle repeated itself for a while before I decided to just walk forward until I felt something, anything at all.

A burst of heat stopped me in my tracks. Not warmth, heat. My entire arm, every part that wasn't frozen, screamed in agony. So did I. I took a quick step back and dropped onto the ground, hoping the snow would put out the pain. I saw that my dead hands hadn't warned me that I had been setting my shirt on fire. I rolled across the ground, still screaming, trying to put out the flame but knowing I was just going to get frostbite again.

 _Dear diary, today I die. I will finally know what it is. Victory in failure._

* * *

 **Sylvia Blanc (15) D7F**

 _I am invincible._ I knew that thought wasn't true, but it held a fraction of truth: I was a powerhouse. I had an advantage in reach and heat that many tributes didn't, and I was willing to take risks. Worst case scenario, I died again, and I didn't mind that thought. Death would bring me back to Sylvia, and without her, there was little reason to live. I didn't feel like I was alive at all.

Once the hovercraft took the body away, I went to the string that was tied to my door. I followed it. It had to lead somewhere, and I was going to find out where. It had led the Careers to me; hopefully it would lead me to the Careers. If it did, there would be pain, and I knew it wouldn't be mine. Even if it was, I was going to take someone out with me. I was going to avenge myself and my one true love, no matter the cost. Part of me wanted to win, but more of me wanted to take out the rest of Havanna's allies.

The string tightened and loosened as I walked, proving to me that someone was holding it. I kept following it, pleased that there was such high visibility now that the blizzard was over. I could actually see in front of myself. I could actually hear things that were going around me. I still fell into knee-deep snow with every step, but it was better than it had been, and I was grateful for what I could get.

Following the string led me to a barn. I had a thought that the Careers were on a hunt, but they wouldn't find anyone there. The girl who had been in there was in the machine shed with me, hiding from both them and the cold. I had let her live there because it was better for her to win than the Careers. The Careers didn't know that, and they would never suspect they were being hunted. I went inside the barn, dropping the string entirely. I didn't want to warn the Careers about my position.

Bursting into the barn, holding my flamethrower high, I looked for a target. It took a while to find one, and when I did, I realized my victory. There was a hayloft above me, and both Careers were standing in it. I smiled at them and lit my flamethrower, igniting the hay. They noticed me and smiled right back, showing me their spears before throwing them at me.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

I had known all along that it wasn't the Ten girl that was coming into the barn. She wouldn't know about the string, and no outer-District kid would follow a string. Swift and I had seen it vibrating for a while and toyed with it, hoping to lead whoever was following it to us. It would give us a kill, regardless of who that kill was, and hopefully get us some sponsor gifts. Swift had already received a coat, but we wanted more. We wanted a monster truck, not a Catsparov.

"It's Seven," Swift whispered, scared. I looked over at him for him to continue. "She's going to use the flamethrower. She totally knows what's going on. We should get out of here." He was losing his nerve. I couldn't have that.

"This is a hayloft. You throw hay out of here. Trust me, we're fine," I whispered back, crouching down in the hay. It was itchy, but that was fine. It was worth it. The Seven girl noticed us despite that, and she grinned at us. _You bitch._ She had some nerve, grinning at the Careers like she had won the Games and wasn't in life-threatening danger. I stood up and grinned back.

When the hay around us burst into flames, I almost faltered, but I stopped myself. "Pick up your spear. We're killing her," I said to Swift. "Smile." Sponsors liked confident Careers, and I liked sponsors. Swift followed my lead, throwing his spear directly at the girl while I threw mine. I wasn't sure who the kill would be attributed to, but it would be a kill.

Then I ran. I ran to the window I had noticed a long time ago, jumping out and landing on the pile of hay and snow I had noticed a while ago. The hay alone would have broken our fall enough, but the extra snow completed the job, cushioning us lightly. We were fine, despite Swift's fears. A bit snowy and itchy, but totally alive and healthy. I just had to pull myself out of the snow.

My foot got stuck, and I almost lost my temper. I pulled and pulled, but the snow around it wouldn't budge. I tried to just slip the shoe out the way it came in, but it wasn't happening. I was going to have to accept the worst-case scenario, which Gomez girls didn't do. We didn't give up, we didn't stop fighting, but I was going to have to.

"Just pull your foot out." Swift said the words I had been thinking. I could pull my foot out, walk away from the now-burning barn. _And lose my shoe._ I did it after a piece of ember fell on my head. I pulled my dang foot out of my dang shoe, swearing the whole time. We had killed a girl, but I got caught in the snow. _This will not look good._

* * *

 **8th Place: Rialta Vernell - Flame and Frostbite**

 **Impressive, I know? I considered this for a while, but how awesome would it be if someone died by both? Rialta just couldn't feel the heat until it was too late. The damage had been done and intensified. Rialta was super cool, and her obsession with death was something new, but I couldn't see her winning. She didn't look like a real Victor to me, or a real mentor, so I couldn't let her win. In the final eight, people are getting weeded out (and she happened to need a POV). Thank you to Winter's Writing for Rialta, who was definitely something new.**

 **7th Place: Sylvia (?) Blanc - Stabbed by Swift and Havanna**

 **Sylvia was something, that's for sure. She was supposed to be characterless and worthless, get depressed, and maybe kill herself. She was supposed to kamikaze herself, but she didn't. She just went totally insane. She was tons of fun to write and develop, and she has to be one of my most developed tributes. Thank you to AmericanPi for Sylvia, who is something I never got before and will never get again.**

 **FINAL SIX!**


	46. Gangrene Returns

**Totsuki Sugihara (D2Mentor)**

Edric and Bridgette were weak. I thought that to myself. I pretended it was the truth. Though I was smart enough to mourn their deaths, I was a Career. If they lost, they were weak. It was their fault. Edric died wonderfully, and I commended his bravery, but that was all I could do. He had bravery and he used it stupidly.

* * *

 **District Two**

Mr. Lyons woke up from his coma while Edric was in the Games and was able to see Edric grow. He disowned his brother while mourning his son, losing two family members within one day. The Strikers mourned their child as was expected, exercising dignity in the streets but crying quietly in their rooms. Two mourned along with them, hoping that Four and One would lose. They couldn't fall behind.

* * *

 **Cassia Rose (D7Mentor)**

I found it hard to miss Sylvia. She was never there when I talked to her, but her boyfriend always was. She left a bigger mark than he did, though. It was funny how the world worked. I closed my eyes and steeled myself, then went back into my mentoring. It was clear I had to do better. We hadn't won in years. I was going to have to fix that.

* * *

 **District Seven**

Mr. Blanc mourned his daughter in silence, as he did so many things in his life. He kept quiet to hide from the Capitol, just like his daughter couldn't. The Wonderlands mourned their son as if they were his real parents, and Seven went out of their way to help them, missing the bright boy and noticing his absence. Nobody noticed the one Avox that cried each night, but she noticed her son.

* * *

 _ **Edric Lyons**_ **(Swift Counter)**

 _I can never thank you enough. I can never thank you at all._ I couldn't thank Edric for surrendering his life for me, at least not to his face, but I thanked him internally every moment of the day. I had stared death in the face, and he had pulled me away from it. He lost and gained his humanity in the Games, and he gave up his life for me.

* * *

 _ **Rialta Vernell**_ **(Havanna Gomez)**

I liked the Four girl. I couldn't tell why she didn't ally with us, but she seemed neat. She never attacked us or taunted us. I hoped that her death was painless, but I knew it probably wasn't. She didn't deserve a painful death. Whoever kept smashing our houses did, but not her.

* * *

 _ **Sylvia Blanc**_ **(Lorenk Pritchett)**

 _She was such a nice girl. You're in the final six._ The two thoughts hit me in quick succession, and I knew what I had to do. I had to win the Games. It was almost time for them to be over. I had to give up my humanity, just like every Victor did, and risk never forgiving myself for my actions. Otherwise I would never live to make them.

* * *

 **Orrick Jasso (14) D12M**

Lorenk and I slept together for a long while, trying to preserve heat and energy. Moving seemed like a waste when our only supplies were refrigerated stuff that had definitely gone bad before the blizzard. We also had snow, but that would take melting, which wasn't good to do. I had heard somewhere that melting snow with your body was bad for you, and I wasn't going to take the risk. We had water, if we were willing to venture to the rock pond. We had food, if we were willing to eat grass. We didn't have supplies.

The ding of a sponsor gift made us hope that maybe we would have something other than water from the dingy toilet we had to drink. While we were grateful for any water, the grimy, dirty bathroom was definitely going to give us dysentery, just like the rest of the camper was bound to kill us. The boards were breaking, snow slipped in through holes, and everything was dirty. We were only there for shelter, which it provided. Hopefully the sponsor gift would fix that. Hopefully.

I opened the door, since the sponsor gift landed outside. It was large, and there was both a _12_ and a _9_ on it, implying a shared gift. I tried to pick it up and carry it inside, but that proved impossible, since it seemed to weigh more than I did. I opened it and found that it was far from disappointing. In it there was a beautiful shield, engraved to Lorenk, and a huge sword, engraved to me. It was definitely too heavy for me, but I still liked it. More importantly though, there was a horse.

In front of me there loomed a huge horse, mottled between brown and white. She looked young and new, her hair bright and her muscles rippling under her coat. She had a horn on her head, and I realized that she was a unicorn. Our sponsors cared about us enough to send a fairtytale. It was the thing of dreams, and I would never get over it.

Hauling the shield and sword behind me, I showed Lorenk our gifts. The unicorn politely followed me into the camper and laid down. I laid down on top of it, happy to bask in the warmth it seemed to emit. Lorenk went to touch it, and it moved away. I went to Lorenk and it followed me. Lorenk was holding the sword. Lorenk was approaching me. Lorenk seemed to be a threat, I noticed, remembering that unicorns were very pure. He definitely wasn't threatening me, but he looked like it.

Lorenk dropped his sword. Lorenk had a horn in his chest. Lorenk was bleeding out. I screamed at the top of my lungs, unable to handle this. Unicorns were good, pure creatures. Unicorns were supposed to protect the innocent. This unicorn had taken my innocence.

A note came from the sky. _You were too innocent,_ it said, and I knew it was right. Lorenk would have killed me. He was just waiting, and he waited too long.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

I ached all over. I kept my hands tucked in my armpits, making sure they stayed as warm as I could keep them. Though I hated to admit it, I was counting cannons. We hit the final five when the last one fired. We were almost done; I only had to outlast four more people. My hands and fingers burned with the cold, and I knew it was a problem. I had to end the Games quick, but that meant risks. I didn't want to kill anyone face-to-face. I felt bad enough killing people via tractor.

 _You have to move._ Moving meant I could get more supplies. The dinky shed I had been staying in was full of nonsense, ping-pong paddles; baseball bats, two of which I took; baseballs, which I also took; chairs; and many things I couldn't see a use for. I left those behind, bringing along the flamethrower I had been sent in a sponsor gift. I kept the coat I had also been sponsored on, held tight around myself, the white hood up. I blended in, but so did my flesh. I was turning even whiter.

 _Corncrib. Shelter,_ I thought vaguely, and I went into the corncrib. There were two floors, and I went into the bottom one first. It stank of poop, and there were almost no walls, so I didn't stay long. I saw the next level, and I made a move to go to it. I found another door and went through it, noticing the trapdoor and easily climbable walls that were just wires.

I put my hands on the wire and stuck my feet into the holes, only to find that I couldn't keep going. I wanted to. My hands were stuck to the metal. I wanted to scream, but that was a death sentence. I ripped my hands off, wincing as flesh was left behind, wrapped my hands in my coat, and kept climbing. I needed shelter even more now.

Once I reached the trapdoor, I found a problem. It wouldn't open. I kept one hand in the wires and banged on the door, happy to hear shuffling noises. The trapdoor swung open and I saw a tribute holding a gun. He stared at me and I at him, but he didn't make a move to fire. I climbed into his fort, keeping my movements slow. I had weapons tucked into my coat, but I didn't want to be seen as a threat.

"I'm Nyra. I'm looking for shelter and allies. I won't hurt you. Can I stay here?" I asked the tribute. He nodded excitedly, noticed the gun in his hand, and set it down. I assumed he had been examining it, since he showed no ill intent. He showed me the way to his bed and let me get under it, using it as a cover. I took the parachute from his gun, with his permission, and wrapped my fingers. Just like that, I was doing well again.

* * *

 **Swift Counter (18) D4M**

"Another cat came in the mail," I said, almost casually. We were getting used to this. I also got a lovely toque, white and red, with a red maple leaf in the white section. The snow sloughed off it, and I appreciated it. It kept my ears from getting any more frostbitten than they already had. "His name is Purrgatory. Morbid, isn't it?" It was morbid, but I was just joking. It was what I did best.

"Look at the size of that one! Maybe this will be useful," Havanna yelled as another parachute floated down. I knew she really wanted sponsor gifts. Her foot was cold, we didn't have a shelter, and we were practically weaponless. All we had was our bodies. We needed something good. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

I looked over at Havanna to see a giant chicken. It was the size of a chair, big enough to be intimidating but not big enough to kill us. I shrugged it off. "It's better than nothing." Its neck feathers were ruffled and many were missing, and it had a nametag: Helena Lives. I went over to it and kicked it, then tackled it down and broke its neck. I didn't want to butcher it so cruelly, but I had to do something. "Lunch!"

We ate the chicken after roasting it over the still-burning barn. It was easy and it was quick. Then Havanna and I walked off. We were on the hunt. Even though we didn't have weapons, two Careers could take most tributes. It was time for the Games to be over. I noticed that Havanna was walking with a slight limp, but I didn't question it. She would let me know if she needed help. Until then, we were on the hunt.

There was no sign of humanity for a long time. Any footprints that had been made had been hidden by the snow or by Sylvia. Havanna made prolonged footprints, and I looked at her face. It was turned up in pain, but she wasn't mentioning it. I knew she wouldn't. I looked at her foot between steps, and it didn't look good.

"Frostbite can get infected," I said quietly. Havanna glared at me.

"It won't. We're not mentioning that," she replied, and I saw a fire burning in her eyes. She was scared, and she wouldn't admit it.

"Let me see your foot," I commanded, kneeling in the snow. My knees quickly got cold, but I could handle it. Havanna glared again and showed it to me.

Havanna's sock was frozen over her foot, sticky with wetness from snow she had melted. I peeled it off and flesh followed with it. The foot was colorless except tendrils of color leading up her leg. It was bad. I could see that, and I wasn't a professional. "We need to do something about that."

We couldn't fix Havanna's foot. We didn't have medical supplies. I brought her to the garage with me. "Close your eyes," I commanded again. She had to do it. She closed her eyes. I searched through the rubble until I found the hatchet we had seen earlier. I took it to her foot.

Havanna screamed, which was understandable. I was doing an amputation, and she didn't have any sedatives. I took off my coat and used it as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. I would be cold, but Havanna wouldn't bleed out. She would have a limp forever, but one of our forevers wasn't going to be much longer anyways.

* * *

 **6.5th Place: Orrick's innocence**

 **Haha unicorn death**

 **6th Place: Lorenk Pritchett - Stabbed through by unicorn**

 **Lorenk was interesting. He had very little personality, but still stood a shot for development. I tried to force something out of him, but like Rialta, I couldn't see him making a real Victor. I also thought it would be cool to kill someone via unicorn, so this happened. Thank you to Manny61945 for Lorenk, who has made Orrick a new person.**

 **5.5th Place: Havanna's foot**

 **RIP girl frostbite's a thing**

 **Final five! We're so close I can taste it :D**


	47. Friendship is Magic

**Flora Amfora (D9Mentor/Escort)**

Even though Lorenk ticked me off, I was human enough to mourn him. I knew he wouldn't win, but I had let my hopes get up, and my crushed dreams made me mourn even if my humanity was hardly enough. It was easier to grieve over Tori; she fought for her life until she died a hero.

* * *

 **District Nine**

The Pritchett family could never fully recover from Lorenk's death. They loved their son, and they needed the money he provided. Nine tried its best to keep them going, every coworker giving them what they could, but there wasn't much to be done, and the Pritchetts quickly fell to poverty. Like any good family, the Harris family mourned their child, but no one knew if it was real or fake. They all knew that that one boy, Ryan, who Tori always hung out with was honestly mourning, and he was turning out like her.

* * *

 _ **Lorenk Pritchett**_ **(Orrick Jasso)**

 _Just like that, I'm alone again._ It was a terrible thought for me to think. I tried to play it off as just being because I was tired, but I was sad for myself, even though I should have been sad that someone died. I missed Lorenk, but boy, was I lonely.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

 _There is no way a one-footed Career can beat a normal Career in a fight._ Swift had meant well when he amputated my foot; I knew it. I had seen and felt the foot dying, and I knew it was just going to get worse if it didn't get cut off. He had even given up his coat to warm up my foot, though it had been replaced by a sponsor. He had to mean well. Yet his actions had given him a strong advantage over me, and I couldn't have that. I had to save myself one way or another, and fighting dirty was my main game.

I limped over to Swift, exaggerating my limp. I needed to look weak. It didn't take much to do that, because I lost a lot of blood even with the sponsored medicine I had, but I still pretended to be worse off than I was. I had to have a good plan before I acted, but I also had to not set off any of Swift's sensors, which avoiding him would definitely do. So I waited, running through every sentence I could think of while Swift tried to get me ready to move.

"Hey Swift," I finally said, starting slowly. I was still figuring something out, and my brain was dulled by pain, but it was almost time to leave. I had to catch him quick. "Didn't we leave some food in that hole in the garage?"

The hole in the garage was a random, eight-foot deep cistern, circular and concrete on all sides. I didn't know why it existed, but we all knew no one would suspect it, so we used it as a supply dump. Swift nodded. "I think we did."

"Could you grab it for me? I would get it, but I can't really maneuver well right now," I said innocently, gesturing to my foot even though I didn't need to. He knew what I meant.

"Sure! Just help me move some rubble and the lid," Swift replied, so I did. I helped him move all the stuff off the top of the hole, including lifting the very heavy lid. Then he jumped in, easily able to handle the fall. It wasn't that far.

"Thanks Swift," I said, pushing the cover back over the hole. There was no way he'd be able to move that. It was bulky, and he had almost no leverage. He was trapped until he died or someone let him out, and that wasn't going to happen until the frostbite kicked in. I didn't know exactly how long frostbite took, but it obviously didn't take long. Swift had a coat, but that wouldn't help much. _Another one bites the dust..._

* * *

 **Swift Counter (18) D4M**

"Thanks for what? I'm not done-" The cover to the hole was shoved over it before I could finish my sentence. The thoughts clicked in my mind pretty quickly: I was stuck in a hole, and I had been betrayed. Worse, I had led myself right into it, just like that. I hadn't even put up a fight. I hadn't even considered that, in the final five of the Games, one of my allies might turn on me. I had just walked directly into a hole like a sheep to the slaughter.

 _All right. Don't give up hope yet. You've got a fighting chance. Once you move the lid, you can climb out. It's not much taller than you are. Just reach..._ I reached my arms up far above my head, happy to find that I reached the top of the hole. I was sad to find that it was only my fingertips that brushed against the cover, not nearly enough height for me to move the cover with ease. Even standing on tiptoe my palms barely laid flat. There was nothing I could do like that.

I jumped up, banging my hands against the cover the best I could. That didn't work. I tried to climb the hole, but it was a lot wider than I was tall. I took my coat off, just for a minute, to see if I could think of anything to do with it. Everything I tried didn't work. Every path I took was a dead end, leaving me no farther out of the hole than I had began. Taking the coat off just wasted some heat, so I had to throw it back on again, having actually managed to go backward when I was already trapped in a pit.

After I started giving up hope, something terrifying happened. I began to shiver. I realized that, though I had a coat and hat, it was very cold. Worse, I was sitting in snow. Worst of all, my body heat was warming the snow enough that it was melting onto me, just like Havanna's sock had done to her foot. I was going to die the same death I had saved Havanna from.

My teeth began to chatter, and I began to shake more vigorously. I breathed quickly, every bit of my energy being spent trying to keep myself warm. Then I just... stopped. For a second I didn't realize that I wasn't shivering. I didn't know how much time had passed, or how long I had to live, but I almost celebrated when I stopped shivering. I stopped celebrating once I realized that meant I was out of energy.

* * *

 **Robin "Mute" Ceviros (18) D11M**

I didn't mind Nyra being around. Part of me said that she might not be trustworthy, that she might be another Paul, waiting for a chance to hurt me, but most of me knew that real people weren't like that. I didn't know what Paul was, but he wasn't exactly human. Nyra definitely was. She was scared of the gun that only had one bullet, the gun I definitely didn't intend to use, and she was shivering under the futon. I had offered it to her, knowing she needed to warm up more than I did. She had damaged hands, and she had just come in from the cold. I was warmer than she was.

Drinking from my water gun, which I had to use quickly, or it would freeze, I watched for any potential attackers. I wanted to be happy and friendly, but I also wanted to protect Nyra. I couldn't just invite someone into my home and then let them die. I had to try to keep her safe, like good friends did. Nobody seemed to be coming. I watched constantly, using every ounce of the self-control I had learned in my life to keep still and listen. I was cold. I was freezing cold, cold like I had never felt before.

Finally, I gave up. I didn't see any point in being cold. I went to the futon Nyra was under, cuddling in next to her. She looked very peaceful, sleeping away her excitement. I had seen her torn fingers, and I had seen the flesh on the corncrib. Her wounds were new, and I was letting her recover. I hoped I didn't scare her when I touched her, but I knew we needed to share heat. The futon was great, but it wasn't enough to keep all our warmth in.

I could feel Nyra shivering against me, and I tried to do a better job of giving her my heat. I wasn't shivering much. I was actually pretty warm. I almost fell asleep, trying to take care of my new ally. I noticed everything she had on her, from the baseball bat to the flamethrower. I knew she was in the Games to win. I also didn't care. I wasn't. I was in the Games to die, getting away from everything my District held for me. I just wanted to keep everyone else happy before the end.

Nyra woke up and rolled over to me, jumping once she noticed me. I shimmied away from her and shrugged, putting my hands up then miming shivering. She was a smart girl. She figured it out, nodding. "Thank you," she said to me, and I knew that taking care of her was worth it. I didn't have much to live for, but I could care for others while I was alive.

* * *

 **5th Place: Swift Counter - Hypothermia**

 **Swift was great. He was a strong Career, but it wasn't his only personality. He was friendly and a jokester, which was good for the Pack. They needed someone lighthearted. However, it seemed like a very Havanna thing to do to betray him, especially since she's weakened. Swift stood a good chance, but he wasn't as strategic as some, so it was his time to go. Thank you to TheAmazingJAJ for Swift, who was great.**

 **RIP Nyra's hands**


	48. CO

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

I didn't totally know what to make of Robin. He seemed nice. He hadn't shot me yet, not even in my sleep, when I was a really easy target. He didn't touch my weapons or my things without permission, though he would look at them. It seemed like he was just doing inventory, trying to get a feel for me. He _did_ cuddle up with me in my sleep, which was a little bit creepy, but he looked like he meant no harm at all. He just wanted to warm me up, if I could read his signs right. He was a weird kid.

There was one problem we had to discuss, but I didn't know how to bring it up. This never happened this late in the Games. Two tributes were never allied at the final four, but there was a very real risk involved with being allied so late. We could easily take down one Career, especially with all the weapons we had. We could probably take down the other kid, too. Which would leave us at the final two. "Robin, what are we going to do if we're the last two?" I asked, not sure how to delve into the question.

Robin shrugged. I almost had to laugh. I was talking about which one of us was going to die, who would kill who, even though we were allies. One of us had to die, and the kid just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. He pointed at himself and shrugged again, which could mean he would die or he would win. I didn't know. I could take him in a fistfight, but I didn't want to. He was nice. He was happy. He didn't kill me. He didn't deserve to have me kill him.

"We'll just have to hope that we don't get there," I said quietly, not saying the words hidden behind that. We had to hope that one of us died before the last two, and that we could kill the other person at the last two. I was valuing myself and Robin above other people just because I knew him. Really, I wouldn't want to kill the kid. The Career signed up for this, so it was her problem. The kid didn't.

I walked over to the gun that Robin hadn't used on me and picked it up. I opened up the barrel that I actually knew how to use, being a farmer from Ten, and checked for bullets. There was one. I wasn't sure if Robin hadn't shot me because he didn't want to, or if he was just worried he would miss. _Well, there goes that plan._ We couldn't shoot the last two. We shouldn't even risk shooting the last one. We had to make a plan.

* * *

 **Orrick Jasso (14) D12M**

I heard a cannon go off, and I was excited. It hit me that it was morbid to be excited that someone died, but also, we were in the final four. I could actually win the Hunger Games. Nobody really knew where I was, I had been sponsored a lovely coat, and I had no reason to go to the main area of the Arena. I could just hide out and wait for everyone else to take care of each other. It might not work, but I actually had a little bit of hope, and that little bit was all that mattered.

 _You just have to stay alive._ With only three other people left in the Games, there was a good chance I wouldn't need any food, which was good, because I didn't have any. All I had was a unicorn, who I definitely wasn't going to eat. I did, however, need water. I hadn't drunk any water in almost two days, and I felt it. I was thirsty, I had a nasty headache, and all my muscles were sore. I needed to get some water fast, but I didn't know how. I couldn't melt it myself. I'd freeze to death. The unicorn would not appreciate it if I used her. I needed a heat source that wasn't me.

Getting up, I searched the camper for anything useful. There were a lot of drawers, most of them empty, some with knives or candles in them. I pulled out the candles and a random bowl I found and kept searching. I needed matches, or I needed a sharp rock. I needed something to start a fire. That was all it would take to keep me safe. I kept opening every drawer and cupboard in the camper until I found a lovely book of matches. It must have been there to light the candles, which was what I was going to use it for.

I went outside for just a second and stuck the bowl into the snow, scooping some snow into it. I had to avoid using my fingers, or they'd freeze. Then I put it over the candles, lighting them all. They were pretty colors, pink and blue, and one played music when I lit it. They all had nice scents, like cupcakes and roses, which really made the water-getting experience better. Once the fire was lit, all I could do was wait. The snow would take a while to melt, and until then, I had to conserve energy.

The fire was warm. I decided that I could conserve energy right by the fire, taking its warmth. It was really cozy down there, on the ground. I kept smelling the candles, letting the chirping bird noises from the musical candle lull me into a state of calm. I was pretty tired from not having enough food, or getting enough sleep. I drank what little water there was in the bowl, and I let myself fall asleep.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

 _They've gotta be around here somewhere._ There were three kids left, and I was going to find them all. I was still using Swift's coat as a tourniquet-shoe mix, so I could walk through the snow, slowly combing the Arena for every last one of my competitors. If the kid who kept smashing our houses in was still alive, I was going to beat the living snot out of her. I wasn't sure if I'd know who she was, but I was going to do it anyways. I'd find a way. I was done with her crud, done with the Games, and done with all of the freaking _snow._

 _Screw it._ "Hey Capitol, if you want to help me out here, I'd really appreciate! Where is everyone?" I yelled to the sky. There was no way anyone would be allowed to politely tell me where the other tributes were, but codes and riddles were allowed, and I knew my way around codes and riddles. I could solve anything they needed to use to get past Capitol filters.

Much to my delight, a beautiful sponsor gift drifted down to me from the heavens. I smiled brightly and tore it open, excited to see the _1_ engraved on it. _What is it, what is it?_ Hopefully, it was time for me to win the Games. Hopefully, I was about to take everyone down. I was partially faking the excitement, hoping to keep the sponsor gifts coming, but I was also very excited to finish the Games.

 _Screw off. You should just die,_ the sponsor note read. I dropped the smile. _How did that get past the filters?_ I wondered. Did the Capitol really hate me that much? I didn't care about their opinions too much, except for the fact that they could influence the outcome of the Games. They could hate me all they wanted as soon as I was Victor, but until then, I wanted their opinion of me to be just a little better.

"Hey, I'm sorry I killed Swift, okay?" I said, hoping there was a camera near me. I wasn't sorry, but they didn't have to know that. "I couldn't win otherwise. It was a death sentence. I get that you don't want your kids dead, but what's a one-legged Career supposed to do? We have to fight dirty sometimes. It was life-or-death, and he would have killed me otherwise." I hoped I was able to convince the Capitol I was sorry. I widened my eyes and put on a good show. That was all I could do.

* * *

 **4th Place: Orrick Jasso - CO Poisoning**

 **Orrick was a cool kid, but I think we all knew he wasn't going to win. He was fourteen, he was an outer-District kid, and he wasn't spectacularly interesting enough for the Capitol to deliberately keep him around. I liked Orrick, since he was innocent, but he had a long ways to develop into someone who understood death and the seriousness of it. His pranks were fun, though he didn't get to do many in the Arena, and the Capitol will never forget that one kid who rode an elephant. Thank you to later . glader for Orrick, who learned a lot these Games.**

 **Final threeee! You can expect about two more chapters of Games, then a wrap-up.**

 **Y'all should go submit to xXIsabeline De Las MercedesXx story, The 150th Hunger Games: Innocent Youth because I did and I want it to get written**


	49. I, Said the Sparrow

**Talaysa Pool (D4Mentor/Escort)**

 _Oh no._ I didn't like it when my tributes died. Rialta had been doing such a good job trying to do well, and she got sponsored and everything. Swift deserved better than he got, and I really didn't like the Careers after he died. They weren't a good batch at all this year.

* * *

 **District Four**

Mrs. Vernell didn't seem surprised when Rialta died, despite her sayings that it couldn't happen. She kept murmuring that life never gave people what they wanted, so off course her daughter didn't come home. The Counters mourned their child properly, and they didn't decide to train any of their future kids. They knew the potential gain was far from worth the potential loss.

* * *

 **Bellepheron Steed (D12Mentor/Escort)**

I hardly missed a beat when Orrick died. I knew it was coming as soon as he lit the candles. The same could be said for Appalachia. As soon as she fell, I knew I was going to be the Twelve mentor for one more year. I was getting better at accepting the loss, though I knew it wasn't a good thing. I was getting better at losing my humanity.

* * *

 **District Twelve**

After Orrick died, all the kids in Twelve pretended that they never minded him or his pranks. His parents knew they were faking, but they appreciated the sentiment, and they appreciated all the donuts the rich kids left at their house. Appalachia had no one to miss her or mourn her, but the street kids appreciated her sacrifice. With her gone, there was more food to go around.

* * *

 _ **Swift Counter**_ **(Havanna Gomez)**

 _Okay, maybe I shouldn't have killed you._ Without any support from my sponsors, I was cold, I was sad, and I was hungry. I was also lonely, but that one I wasn't going to admit out loud. I was a villain now. I didn't need any love or support. I was supposed to be a strong, independent Career.

* * *

 _ **Orrick Jasso**_ **(Mute Ceviros)**

 _So it's just us and the Career._ That made my life a little easier. Nyra could totally win. I knew she and I wouldn't be the last two, because the Career would totally take one of us out. She wouldn't have to go through the pain of killing me, and I wouldn't have to go through the pain of losing an ally. It all worked out.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

There were only three of us left. One of us was going to win, and it was going to be soon. The Capitol wouldn't let the Games drag on for much longer, especially since two of us were together. Havanna was going to be led to us, and it was going to be soon. We had to be as ready as we could, both to protect ourselves and to kill our ally. Neither of us wanted to admit it, but one of us was going to live longer. One of us was going to watch the other die. I wasn't sure if I'd rather die or watch Robin die.

We decided to let fate handle which of us would die. I was taking watch on the front door, the only entrance to the corncrib ever since we put the couch over the trapdoor. Robin was sleeping under the futon. If Havanna attacked, I would probably die. She was a Career, she probably had a weapon, and I wasn't the best shot in the world. Robin could live or die if I died. It was anyone's game, but neither of us were valuing ourselves over the other.

It was pretty boring, staring at nothing in particular and waiting to see what was going to happen. At some point, my turn was going to be up. I was going to decide that I was too cold to stay out of the warmth of the futon anymore, or that my fingers were getting too frozen for me to waste any more heat, and then it would be Robin's turn to take a risk. I didn't particular want him in the danger zone, but it would be a relief to be out of it myself.

Just sitting there, staring at snow, I had a lot of time to think. I thought about my growth throughout the Games. I had learned what it was to be scared, I had learned what it was to be near death, and I had learned what frostbite felt like. I took out some strong contenders, which most Tens didn't do. I killed more kids than most people in my District ever could. I was probably a legend on the streets of Ten but, despite my better judgement, I felt some guilt. Some of the kids I killed were Reaped. Some of the kids didn't know what they were getting into. Anyone who did know what they were getting into wasn't raised right. I killed other kids who were just trying to stay alive, and if I outlived two more, I'd live a healthy lifetime of dealing with that.

Blowing on my fingers, trying to warm them up, I decided that I had done enough thinking for one day. I was tired. I was cold. The sun had traveled across most of the sky, so while I didn't know exactly how long I had been watching, I knew it had been hours. I walked over to Robin and shook him, waiting until he was awake to crawl underneath our makeshift blanket. I didn't have to talk with him. I appreciated the silence, and I appreciated the break.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez (18) D1F**

The Capitol had to drop me a clue sometime. Even if they didn't want me to win, they had to lead me to the other tributes so I could die excitingly. It was bound to happen sometime, and if I didn't, I would force it to. Even if the Capitol tried to drag me away from everyone else, I was going to pull myself to Victory. It wouldn't be the first time I won something despite everyone not wanting me to. It happened to me all the time in One, and it would keep happening once I won. I just had to win to prove it.

I carried the hatchet Swift had used to cut off my foot with me while I was hunting. It seemed almost poetic that I was not only trying to kill others with what was used to kill part of me, but that I was using my fallen ally's weapon to fell others. I was sure people in the Districts were screaming at me to leave their kid's weapon behind, but I couldn't make myself do it. It was a far better weapon than any of the other ones we had. I needed it if I was going to be able to overcome my injuries.

When I saw the corncrib, I wanted to scream. It was almost perfect that somebody would go in there. It was difficult to get into, since I only saw one entrance. It had wire surrounding it. There were windows, so you could see in every direction. Someone was definitely hiding there, and I wasn't going to be able to sneak attack them. I was going to have to go in blazing, trying to attack before the other person had time to respond. They'd see me coming, but they might not see me well enough.

It was a pleasant surprise when nobody was in the corncrib. I wouldn't have to go in blazing. Then I saw the roof above me, far lower than the rest of the place, and remembered the random pool ladder I had seen. _Ah heck no._ I was going to be even more bottlenecked, trying to get into the second floor while keeping my balance on a ladder. I was ticked. That wasn't right.

I had no choice but to climb the ladder, so I climbed it. I kept low the whole time, low-crawling the bridge between the ladder and the door. I was going to end this thing, and I was going to end it now. It didn't matter if the other people fought back. I was a _Career._ I was the strongest. I was honed to kill without mercy or emotion. I was trained to beat everything expected of a kid. I was going to win.

* * *

 **Mute Ceviros (18) D12M**

It was happening. I didn't see Havanna at first; I felt her. She exploded up from the little landing between the corncrib and the ladder you had to use to get to the landing, tackling me down to the ground. There was no way she could have known where I was. That was pure luck. It seemed my luck wasn't doing its best, but that didn't mean too much to me. I wasn't going to win this fight, but I sure could slow down my attacker.

When Havanna landed on me, she tried to land a death blow. She tried to behead me with her hatchet, hate spraying from her eyes. She had to be insane. She looked murderous, like she was on some sort of rampage. She looked like Paul, and she almost scared me. I almost froze when she tried to kill me, which would have been fatal. Instead, though, I dodged just far enough to the side that her weapon lodged itself in my chest. It was still a serious injury, but it wasn't a fatal one, at least not immediately.

Being scared by Havanna lit something up in me. I rolled over on top of her and punched her in the face, right in the nose. I knew how much that hurt. She jumped a little, obviously not expecting my ferocity. I had never fought someone before, but I had been used as a punching bag for long enough that I knew which areas to hit to hurt the most. I knew how to break someone's spirit, even if I didn't know how to kill someone. I knew the most efficient way to kill someone's will to live.

I screamed while I fought, desperately trying to wake up Nyra. It must have sounded awful to everyone around me. I couldn't talk, but I could scream. I hadn't used my voice in ages, so it was scratchy and dry. It sounded almost like a battle cry, and I hoped that was what Havanna would assume it was. I hoped she wouldn't notice Nyra waking up until it was too late.

Havanna poked me in the eyes, throwing me off balance. I kicked her in the chest, and she fell. Right on top of me. That absolutely had to be planned, and it worked. She stabbed me with her hatchet again, this time right in the heart. I was hardly bleeding and hardly thinking, and already Havanna was getting off me to search for the last tribute. I grabbed onto her legs, slowing her down one last time before I breathed my last.

* * *

 **And the finale begins.**

 **3rd Place: Robin Ceviros - Stabbed like a lot by Havanna**

 **Robin was pretty neat. He was a victim of serious abuse, but that wasn't his whole trope. He was funny despite that, it just threw him off a bit. He was originally submitted as a non-human who didn't have a mouth, and I kept the muteness around, but changed him up a bit with the submitter's permission. Feel free to post your thoughts on whether non-humans should be allowed :P Anyways, he was supposed to die early, but he made it to third, and he managed to get a bit of an arc. He was also supposed to die saving an ally, and I delivered. Nyra now has a fighting chance. Thank you to Deviance52 for Robin, who was a real stand-up guy.**

 **The title in honor of the poem "Who Killed Cock Robin," given to me by LCS. I ain't creative.**


	50. Finale

**I'm just going to say names this chapter, since you all know enough about the tributes.**

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

I heard Robin's screaming, and it scared me. I didn't know if he was screaming in terror, rage, or just to awaken me, but I knew he was successful at at least one of those goals. I was wide awake, ready to do whatever it took to defeat our last opponent. I stood up underneath the futon and ran at the door, knowing that Havanna's weapon, whatever it might be, would be slowed by the futon.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

 _So she's under the futon. An alliance in the final three?_ Was the first thought that ran through my head. The next one was that I had to take down a girl that was running at me with a futon covering her, and then that there was no way she could see where she was going. I stepped to the side, letting her pass me harmlessly, hoping she would fall out of the door.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

 _She dodged. Clever girl._ The futon bumped harmlessly into the door, too wide for me to fall out. I dropped like a rock, knowing Havanna would be coming at me right away. I wasn't going to go down easy, if I went down at all. Sure enough, Havanna's hatchet lodged itself in the futon, right where my head had been a second ago. I lunged for her, hoping to knock her off-balance.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

Nyra saw my lack of foot, and she used it to her advantage. She was a smart girl, I'd give her that. She knew how to fight, and she was going to take me down dirty. I could accept that. I fought dirty, too. When she hit me, I fell back, not for strategic reasons. I just couldn't keep my balance. I rolled over for strategic reasons, though, landing right on top of my combatant.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

Havanna rolled. I should have known that she would know how to recover well from anything hand-to-hand combat had to throw at her. She was a Career, after all. She had almost every advantage. I only had two feet, and the fact that I knew the lay of the land. I pulled my legs up while we rolled, forcing Havanna into a crazy awkward position. She landed on top of me, yes, but she had no way to stay on top. I rolled slightly, knocking her off of me, and got up, heading for any weapon I knew about.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

 _What are you looking for?_ Nyra was looking for something, quite conspiciously, but I didn't know what it was. There was a flamethrower across the corncrib from us, far enough away that neither of us could reach it. If one of us tried, the other would tackle her down. So she had to be looking for something else. There was a baseball bat beside the flamethrower, but again, I couldn't reach it. I would have to take down Nyra first, and once I did that, I wouldn't need it anymore.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

Havanna was watching me. She wasn't attacking, probably because she knew I had some logic in me. I could go for her already-damaged ribs, or her already-broken nose. She had to wait for me to make a move, and I wasn't going to. Not until I found what I was looking for. Havanna knew I was looking for something, but that didn't matter. I would find it and use it before she could stop me.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

 _What is it?_ There was nothing worth noticing in the corncrib. There was a chair. There was a footstool. There was a couch. There was the futon. There were two weapons we couldn't reach, both of which Nyra had definitely noticed. I had to be missing something, but Nyra was missing it, too. I could have searched for it, but I wanted her to do the dirty work.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

It clicked in my mind where the gun was. It had to be under the futon. It was the only place I couldn't see. I pulled the futon over to me, and sure enough, the gun was waiting under it. I lunged for it, ready to have Havanna's weight land on me, and it did. It also didn't matter. One shot of the gun, and the fight would be over. I would win the Games.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

 _I get a mean note, and you get a gun?_ That was so not cool. It wasn't going to matter at all, though. While my foot was a weakness, it wouldn't affect me in wrestling. I just had to have stronger arms than Nyra did, and I was confident I did. She was some farmer. I was a trained killer. I was going to overpower her no problem, and, to no one's surprise, it wasn't taking long.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

Havanna was overpowering me. Fear flashed through me that I was definitely going to lose; her arms were stronger than mine, and I couldn't reach the trigger. She pulled the gun out of my hands and turned it to face me, and I dodged before she could pull the trigger. The gun went off with a loud bang, a bullet lodging itself into my shoulder. It hurt so much I could hardly think, but I wasn't dead.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

 _Gotcha._ I got the gun from Nyra. She got me to miss the first shot, yes, but I wasn't done. I was going to keep on shooting her until her cannon fired or her corpse was unrecognizable. I didn't care how many bullets it took; I was just going to keep going. I pulled the trigger to finish the job and heard a click. The gun must have been jammed. I pulled the trigger again to another click, then another.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

 _Surprise, witch._ Havanna had no way to know the gun only had one bullet. She had no way to know I didn't mind getting shot in the shoulder, using that as a distraction while I grabbed onto the hatchet she had left in the futon. I reached for it weakly, letting her think it was a worthless effort, then threw it into her throat with every ounce of my strength. I had a bad angle, but she was too close for me to miss. My hit threw her off me, and I rolled onto my knees, right over her.

* * *

 **Havanna Gomez**

 _You little *$% &. _Nyra got the best of me with the hatchet. I was bleeding a lot, and she was still coming. I tried to hold onto the hatchet, but she pulled with both of her arms, and I was already weak from losing so much blood. I wasn't going to stop bleeding anytime soon, but Nyra didn't stop. I couldn't blame her. When I underestimated her, I got beheaded. Of course she wouldn't underestimate me.

* * *

 **Nyra Pickering**

My handiwork sickened me, but I knew I had to finish the job. I didn't stop whacking Havanna until her head was off, at which point her cannon finally fired. She must have been dead before then, the cannon not firing for dramatic effect. Nobody could have lived through losing that much blood, or even being hit that much.

I stood up, the hatchet hanging loosely in my arm, waiting for the hovercraft to get me. I was injured and bleeding, but I could still stand. I was one of the well-off Victors, but I knew I would still be torn up. I waited for the announcement that I had won while I got back to thinking. _I'm going to have to live with this. The Gomezes definitely screamed and cried the whole fight, just like your mom would have. You look like a serial killer._

"Congratulations to Nyra Pickering, the Victor of the twenty-first annual Hunger Games!" a voice called out, and I climbed into the hovercraft. I did it all on my own. I was not going to be carried out of the Arena in a heap, not after that fight. I was holding my head high, even if I thought I was going to throw up, not knowing what blood was mine and what was Havanna's.

* * *

 **2nd Place: Havanna Gomez - Hatcheted a whole bunch by Nyra**

 **This was close. In the beginning, like four chapters ago, I thought Nyra was going to win for sure. She was getting popular, and when Havanna killed Swift, Havanna lost some of her popularity. I thought it would be an easy decision. Then people brought up villain arcs and outer-Games stuff, and I almost changed my mind. Havanna could have a cool arc. She could be a neat Victor. I just thought that Nyra deserved it more, partially because she did so much these Games. Thank you to Caleb for Havanna, who went down kicking and screaming.**

 **Victor: Nyra Pickering**

 **There you have it, people! The finale has finally happened. Nyra won. I've had this planned for a while, as I said. The last scene actually changed a lot from what I had planned, but I figured this would be cool. Havanna had a real shot, but Nyra knew what she was doing. She was a fighter all the way through, even when she lost the flesh on her fingers to the cold. Congratulations to aceswims for submitting the Victor of the twenty-first Games.**

 **There will be a couple wrap-up chapters, and I'll give Havanna and Robin eulogies (as well as One and Eleven). I just knew nobody cared about that jazz this chapter, since it's kinda the finale.**


	51. Coronation

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

I woke up. I'm sure I woke up a lot earlier than most Victors did, since I had little damage done to me. My shoulder didn't hurt very much from the bullet wounds, and I could see right away that the Capitol had patched up my fingers. Somehow, they had grafted flesh onto me where it had originally been torn away by the horror that was the corncrib. I was warm, I was safe, and I wasn't about to get into the fistfight of my life. I was probably the least damaged Victor in Panem.

As soon as I woke up, a nurse wandered in to check on me. She looked at my vitals, and I knew she could see them from a screen which was connected to all of the wires inside of me. I wanted to pull them out, but I knew that would be a bad idea. I might die, which would be pretty ironic right after I won a fight for my life. The nurse seemed pleased with my vitals, so she let a visitor come in.

Bessie Deere came in to see me the second the nurse would let her. She looked excited, almost like a child. I knew that wasn't common. She had seemed so serious while she had been mentoring me, and now her face was lit up like a Christmas tree. She took my hand and said, "Congratulations! I can't believe Ten actually got another Victor. This is amazing." And I knew it was.

"I'm glad you believed in me," I said sarcastically, sitting up in the bed. Then I looked around, noticing that I was in a plain hospital room. There were wires, machines, and other doohickeys, and even a television. There we no mirrors, though, and I didn't want to know what the Capitol had done to me. Victors never looked the same after their Games, changed more than even the Arena had done.

"You want to see how you look, don't you?" Bessie said, pulling a delicate mirror out of her pocket. "Don't freak out, okay? I don't know how you'll respond, but some tributes-"

I pulled the mirror out of her hands before she could finish speaking. My hands were shaking. I never cared about my appearance, not until I knew that it was being changed by the Capitol. What had they done to me? Did I look like me at all? Was I anywhere near recognizable? I almost cried before I even saw my reflection.

My hair, once down to my back, was now in a tight pixie cut. My freckles popped more than ever against my skin, which was only a few shades paler than it used to be. My eyes were bigger than they had been, vibrant green with flecks of blue instead of the simple eyes I had once had. I was gorgeous. I looked like a plain Capitolite, too pretty to be from Ten. Ten didn't have models. Ten had workers. Ten didn't flaunt its beauty. Ten was simple. But I wasn't a Ten anymore; I was a Victor. I was one of the Capitol's pets.

 _Frick her._ Ginger had to have done that on purpose. My skin was inhumanly white. It probably looked like the snow of the Arena, but I didn't care. It looked Capitolite. My freckles were inhumanly red. It was probably supposed to represent blood, but it looked like Capitol tattoos. Blue flecks in green eyes weren't natural. No self-respecting Ten girl would get a pixie cut. But a Capitolite would. I wanted to scream. I was against the Capitol. I almost got killed for rebelling. But now I looked like one of those idiots.

I dropped the mirror, using all of my self-control to stop myself from yelling profanities about the President. I had to be polite. I had to be respectful. Or else I would die. I got up and stormed out of the room, surprisingly able to walk despite how off-balance I felt. My breasts were a little bit bigger. My legs were a little bit longer. Ginger didn't leave any part of me alone. She didn't let me stay me at all.

I would have kept going forever, but my stylists saw me and stopped me. I cried into their arms, and they gasped when they saw me. They were probably surprised. How often did they see Victors break? I didn't care, though. I was done fighting. I just wanted to stop fighting for a little bit and go back to the normal life that I wasn't allowed to have.

* * *

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome the one - the only! - Nyra Pickering!" Marcelene yelled out for all the Capitol to hear. I took my cue and walked onto the stage, ready for the interview. It would be my second time meeting Marcelene, though the first when I didn't think I was about to die. The Games sure did take an interesting turn.

"Hello, Marcelene! Great to see you again," I said, my smile just as faked as my interviewer's. She was wearing a blue jumpsuit. I was wearing overalls. The Capitol was really playing with the fact that a Ten won the farm Arena. I was glad they didn't make me chew on wheat.

"You too, Nyra. Let me ask you, what was your favorite part of the Games?" Marcelene asked that every year. I had seen some of the interviews. Every year, the Victor didn't know what to answer. It was hard to say, since the whole time was spent fighting for your life.

"I really liked hiding in the hay with Appalachia. We played would you rather and got our minds off the stress of the Games!"

"And what was the worst part of the Games?" _The final fight. Stabbing a girl to death. The time I learned that I kept killing outer-District kids instead of Careers. Watching Robin die because he sacrificed himself for me._

"Probably seeing Appalachia's face in the sky. It was so hard to see her go," I replied, trying not to be sarcastic. I was spending the whole interview on thin ice.

"I'm sure that was hard for you," Marcelene said to me before seguing into what she was supposed to say. "Now, we've all had enough of this! Let's see the Games recap, shall we?"

And with those final words, a screen lowered itself from the ceiling, playing the Games recap. It showed the Bloodbath, where the insane girl killed a child and then got killed. It showed me playing games with Appalachia until I accidentally led her to her death. It showed things I hadn't seen; Rialta and Tori played a weird board game, and Polaris and Havanna screamed at a bird. I saw Havanna kill ally after ally, and I felt a lot less bad about killing her. I still felt bad about the others, but Havanna really was a monster.

During the recap, I snuck a couple of glances at the Capitolites. They seemed to have mixed feelings about me. Some of them were cheering, and some weren't. Some of them seemed annoyed with me, and I felt like I had made them lose some bets. Still, none of them seemed to hate me. That was good. If they did, it would be that much easier for Ginger to execute me.

I wasn't very haunted by my tape. I only had to kill one person up close. I only had to watch two people die. Still, I was glad when it was over. It meant the interview was almost done. When Ginger came walking out with a crown on a cushion, it reaffirmed my happiness. I was almost free from the Capitol for nearly a year. I could almost do my Victory tour and then find a new house and let my parents live in a good house, not a crud one. I was almost home.

My eyes locked on the crown when I saw it. It was a bunch of intertwined wires, looking almost like the corncrib. There were white jewels on it, made to look like the snow that had killed so many in the Arena. There was a handful of red jewels, made to look like blood. It made perfect sense. I just didn't like the top, where a bunch of wires stuck out, looking like perfect little 1s.

"Congratulations on winning the Hunger Games," Vispasian Ginger said, putting the crown on top of my head. She didn't look happy. I nodded.

"Thank you, Ms. President."

I had never seen the President angry with someone. She hadn't killed Lumen on the spot when he killed one of her precious Hunters. She hadn't killed me yet. But I knew I was on thin ice. She knew I had tried rebelling in the past. She likely knew that I wanted to try again. And I knew she didn't intend to let me, even if that meant one of her Victors would have to die a mysterious death.

* * *

 **Yeah Ginger is like super chill, but even she can't just let a rebellion happen.**

 **Lemme say, hopefully for the last time: It's about time I wrote this thing**


	52. Initiation

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

I was fidgetty. I had been taught that talent from my parents. I jumped every time a door opened. I watched the windows like a hawk. It was what my parents did whenever they were holding a meeting, trying to start a new rebellion. It was what they had trained me to do in my younger years, the ones where I didn't know about America. I just watched the doors, being a little lookout, not knowing what I was helping with. It was what had stuck with me now, reawakened by the President's disdain for me. It was what made me jump when I heard a knock on the door.

"Hello?" Bessie called out while she walked into my room. I wasn't totally fragile. I wasn't totally broken. I just knew I was on thin ice, and Bessie must have known, too. She walked in slowly, revealing all the Victors behind her. I watched each of them file in, listening absentmindedly to what Bessie was saying. "It's just all of us Victors here. We usually initiate the newest Victor somehow, some way you choose. You're one of us now."

I nodded, not sure of what to do for my initiation. It had to be boring. It had to stay under-the-radar. It had to be hidden. So I turned to the other Victors, all of whom were waiting for my response. They were waiting patiently, none of them rushing me at all, but I still felt a bit bad for inconveniencing them. "What do Victors normally do? Like, is there anything I should avoid at all?" I asked, looking for guidance. I hadn't been able to do that in a while. I was normally a leader. Bessie could guide me, though. I trusted her.

"Hm... Well, Rodney visited kids in the hospital. Totsuki made necklaces, and Rybbon made a quilt. I had a party, I think. It's been a while," Bessie replied to me, looking up thoughtfully while trying to remember everyone's initiation. That made it my turn to wait, and wait I did. I was quiet and patient, willing to shut up and let someone else speak. I was going to have to learn how to do that a lot.

"Why don't... Why don't I just have a party, too?" I asked once Bessie finished. It wasn't particularly spectacular or fun. It wasn't crazy at all. Ginger would probably never even know I had done it, which made it perfect. I could disappear from Ginger forever, then go back to Ten, never to talk to her again. She would forget about me in good time.

"Sounds good!" Rodney replied, plopping down on a couch next to me. The other Victors followed suit, as well as one kid who I didn't recognized as a Victor. Rodney seemed to notice my confusion, so he continued. "That's Lumen. Apparently the President let him live after Games, so he's still alive and kicking. He doesn't leave the President's Mansion much, and we Victors don't really talk about him - he's not supposed to exist - but he's a fun dude."

"Lumen... Lumen Hal?" I asked, shocked that the President herself had broken one of the Games' rules. She didn't follow them strictly. She didn't follow the rules of one of the most important things Panem had to offer strictly. Maybe she would let me off lighter than I thought.

"The one and only! I'm also one of the President's best friends, though Cordelia probably beats me," Lumen said casually, sitting down behind all of the others. I nodded, awed. That was great news. I wasn't dead.

"All right. What are we doing here?" Rybbon asked, and I shrugged. I didn't really care what we did. I was trying to keep a low profile, which meant I couldn't be particularly loud about what I said. Nobody else had to be quiet, so they could shout out whatever they wanted to do.

"Twister!" Totsuki yelled, breaking her normal strategic character. I nodded. Twister sounded fun. I hadn't played the game in ages, but it would be interesting to try it out again. Especially since we'd be up against Careers, who probably had the best balance of anyone.

"First, food," Bessie said, ordering a bunch of pizza. We closed the doors to my room once the pizza arrived, also getting ourselves some candies and ice cream. The pizza was all types, cheese, pepperoni, supreme, and pineapple, whatever was up with that. The candy was also all types, with ice cream candy and candy ice cream. It seemed like a weird thing to do, but it didn't really surprise me. The Capitol couldn't surprise me anymore.

Lumen took the spot of caller, letting the rest of us be totally awkward. And we were. I forgot about my horrible crown and the horrible Games. I forgot about blending in. We writhed around each other, trying not to fall while climbing each person and fighting for positions we could stand on. It was great. It was hilarious, yes, but it was an amazing break from the stress that was life.

By the time we decided we had enough of the game, all of us were laughing our hearts out. We collapsed on the ground and changed into pajamas someone had ordered for us from an Avox, grabbing onto pillows and watching horror movies. It was an idiotic, worthless slumber party. It was exactly what a bunch of people who had their childhoods torn away from them in a murder game needed.

* * *

 **Shoutout to Lumen for being alive!**

 **There should be one or two more chapters (depending on how I feel about an epilogue), and then this story will be done! That's crazy.**


	53. Victory Parade

**Nyra Pickering (17) D10F**

 _Almost home. Almost safe. Will there be more cameras in the Victor's Village? Maybe you can just stay home..._ I wasn't thinking much about my speech while the train pulled up to One. I didn't really care about it. It could easily be read from a card, and it didn't matter. What did matter was how I was going to return to my life once I was home. I didn't know what would be safe and what wouldn't, though I assumed Ginger would be kind to me. _I could probably just ask her politely..._

"Hello, citizens of One! I understand you're not too pleased to see me as your Victor, but I hope we can get over this. Understand that I only killed one of your tributes, and she had earned it by killing your other. I hope to enjoy meeting you all in person," I read from the awkwardly-written card. The author had no idea what they were doing. Still, One didn't seem upset by my weak speech. They seemed evenly split between hating me, probably due to my killing Havanna, and loving me, probably due to the fact that Havanna _did_ kill Polaris. The food was good, we ate, we drank, and I was glad when I left. It was one District down, eleven to go.

 _Two. Never really met Two._ "As much as your tributes mattered these Games, I'm sorry to say, I hardly met them. I'm sure they were important. I'm sure they were valuable, as every single human is. Edric seemed amazing, and Bridgette was an interesting young lady. They were a blessing to Panem, and they will be missed." I ignored the card for that speech, quickly regretting it. _Frick frick frick, I killed Bridgette._ I had forgotten about that detail. It made for an awkward meal, avoiding all eye contact and having guards on me at all times.

 _Eris and Excel. You really, really didn't meet them. Certainly._ "Eris and Excel were amazing people, both of them valuable to the world. They changed the Games and their allies, which I could see despite not meeting them well. I'm sorry they couldn't return," I said, reading off the card this time. It was still weak, but so were my speeches. _Stuck between a rock and a hard place._ Luckily, Three didn't seem to mind me, so I could eat without thinking my Victorship was going to end prematurely.

 _Rialta and Swift. Didn't kill them. Did_ not _kill them._ I was met by cheers when I entered Four. I had no idea why, but I was going to take what I could get. "I'm glad to have been such a pleasure for you to see! I'm pretty excited to have come home, myself. Rialta seemed cool, though morbid, and Swift was kinda awesome. You have no idea how loud he was in the Arena - wait, you do. Dang. Well, thanks for welcoming me!" I ditched the card, but really, it was worth it. The food was great and the crowd was great. I could have a good time.

 _That's... The Bloodbath... And the frostbite one. Okay, all good._ I was really overthinking my speeches, tiptoeing around the District's feelings and the Capitol's. Past Victors had ignored the written speeches, so I was, in theory, fine. "Turbo was an excellent young man. He and I talked a bit pre-Games, and he will be missed. I'm sorry to say, I hardly met Margherita, but I'm sad to know she's gone. I do hope everyone can recover," I said, hoping my speech wasn't totally worthless. It didn't seem to be, or at least, it didn't go as poorly as Two's. The food wasn't great, but I took it. The people were quiet, but I expected it. Their opinions were probably as forbidden as mine.

"Althea was kinda awesome. She and I didn't talk much, but we met like, once, and she was cool. She got in with the Careers!" I said, honestly in awe of the girl. I couldn't do that. I was immediately booed by the entire District, though they didn't threaten me like Two had. Still, we were careful. I finished my speech from the card. "Omri was an interesting young man, valued by the world but dying in a worthy cause." It was a bad card to read from. I didn't stay for supper.

Seven was going to be easy. Sylvia had helped me through the Games. She let me stay with her. "While I didn't meet Forrest, I did meet Sylvia. I'm sure Forrest was great, or else he would never have been able to get such an amazing young lady. She was truly a blessing to me, and I wouldn't be here without her. Thank you, Seven, for helping me so much," I was able to say earnestly. I could honor the fallen without lying through my teeth.

Eight was also going to be easy. Caddis and Amelia were dead before I had a chance to meet them. There was absolutely no way I had killed them. "Caddis was a great boy, bubbly and fun to see. He always brought a smile to my face. Amelia was more quiet, but she did a good job while she was alive. I'm sad to say they're gone, but you can recover. It might seem like you can't, but trust me: You can bounce back from anything," I bluffed, seeing the crying parents in the stage. Some things were worth lying about.

"Tori, Lorenk, and I never met. I can't say much about them. I saw a little of them in the interviews, and they showed just how good of a District Nine truly is. They deserved amazing things, and they died in battle," I read. I didn't know enough about Tori and Lorenk to make a speech up on the spot. Apparently I had done a good job trying, though. Nobody rioted, and I ate a good, albeit quiet, meal. I almost felt bad taking the food, until I remembered I was actually required by law to eat.

I got to skip Ten, since it was my District, so I went straight to Eleven. That one I was actually ready for. "I didn't meet Saige. I'm sorry to gloss over her, but I don't know much about her. I'm sure she was cool, though. I can talk about Robin. I didn't know anything about Eleven before the Games, but he proved to me that this is an amazing District. I could see the trauma in him, but he was still bright, and he still saved my life. Thank you a hundred times over to Eleven for raising such a great boy, and, to whoever hurt him: If I ever find out who you are, I will kill you, legally or illegally." The boy did not deserve what had happened to him, and I would risk a slightly larger target to help out an ally.

Eleven was hard, but Twelve was going to be just as bad. I read off the card for Orrick. "An amazing young boy, Orrick will be missed by us all." It seemed... wrong. The boy was described by two sentences, but I couldn't help. I never met Orrick. I could describe Appalachia, though. "Appalachia was a fighter. She got through so much, and I swear, her death was an accident. That could have been me, and I pray that you understand that. I did not mean for her to die." Twelve didn't seem to care what I had to say. They just wanted to eat their feast and get back to their life, and I was fine with that.

I stared wistfully out the window the whole train ride to Ten. Little by little, the bits of farm I was used to began to appear in the landscape, and I could spot some of my neighbors' land as we got farther in. In Ten, my speech was only about one tribute. "Derwin was so cool, guys. He didn't deserve this crud," I said, abandoning formality. I knew Derwin before he was Reaped. He stole my sheep. He was still cool, though. "And here I am, your Victor. Neat, huh?" I was in tears before the speech was finished. So were my parents, who were waiting for me to get to them through the crowd.

* * *

 **I call it, I'm not great at writing speeches. But hey: I _tried,_ so progress is being made!**


	54. Epilogue

**Nyra Pickering (17) Victor**

The first order of business once I got back was greeting my parents. The crowd knew me and cared about me enough to get out of my way, even though they were grabbing for the prizes I came back with. I didn't mind them being greedy. Someone had sent me all that stuff, and the gifts I had probably didn't pay back for it, but it was a start. I could pay back Ten for their sponsoring little by little, but that would come after I had found my parents.

"Mom," I said quietly, burying myself in her arms. She hugged me tightly, so tightly I was actually worried something might break. Tears were streaming down her face, and I knew she had been waiting for this just as much as I had. She let me go only when my dad asked her to so he could hug me as well, and we did the same thing.

"Dad," I whispered into my father's ear, feeling silly that I only had one word to say. I had just written a bunch of speeches on the spot, but I couldn't say anything dramatic to my father. I was sure he didn't mind, though. He held me tightly, just as my mother had, but he did something different: He picked me up and swung me around in a circle, making me feel like his precious little girl again.

* * *

The second order of business was getting a meeting with the President, which was about as hard as it sounds. I had to convince her that the meeting was important, then I had to find a break in her schedule, and I had to make it very clear I wasn't planning anything dangerous. It took all my time and effort, leaving me focused on that and that alone instead of worrying about being a good Victor. I figured I could feed the hungry and clothe the naked, as all good Victors were expected to do, once I was in the clear.

I was a lucky person in terms of getting a meeting. I had connections. I called the mansion every day I was allowed to, basically spamming them in hopes of getting Lumen, who agreed to help me find the President. He was a good friend of hers, so I figured she would be likely to listen to him, even if she wasn't particularly fond of me. I spammed the President, too, but I couldn't do that as much. I didn't want to tick her off and lose her forever.

It took months of trying, but I got to meet with Ginger. She came to my house in holograph form, ensuring I couldn't do her any harm, and she started the discussion. "All right, Nyra. You say you need to ensure you're not a rebel. Care to elaborate?"

I nodded, not sure of whether she could see me or not. "I've had rebel ties in the past, obviously, but I don't want to be seen as a potential threat to the Capitol anymore. I'm clean now, but I'm not sure what actions would be allowed and what wouldn't. I'd hate to accidentally get myself labelled as a rebel, so I'd appreciate if you could tell me what I'm expected to do and avoid doing," I said, saying the speech I had practiced so many times before. Lumen had helped me find good words and stuff, things that Ginger would like, and it seemed to work.

Ginger laughed. I was talking about what could be the most important thing in all of Panem, and she laughed. When she was done, she looked at me, a smile in her eyes. "Nyra, I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid that you're going to rebel. We're going to keep eyes on you, yes, but only as a safeguard. I was harsh on you in the Capitol to keep up appearances. That's it. Don't be an idiot, and I won't kill you. That's all you have to do," she said to me, and I let out a sigh of relief. She really was the chill President Lumen had told me about. I really didn't have to watch every single step.

* * *

Once I knew that I was safe from being randomly killed, I could calm down a lot. I was the only seventeen-year-old in Panem who could say that. I wasn't going to get Reaped. I wasn't going to be expected to volunteer. I wasn't a rebel. I was just a kid, the way kids had been in America. Beyond the fact that I had killed someone already, admittedly, but I was as much of a real kid as anyone in Panem could hope to be.

I lived a more quiet life than I ever expected, especially since I was a Victor. Ten seemed to mostly respect my wishes to do my own thing, not get swamped, especially the adults and elders.. Like any good Victor, I gave away most of my prize money. I didn't need nearly as much as I had. The poor loved me, the rich were fond of me, and the middle-class was mixed. The Ciervos sure did get a lot of sheep from me, though.

As a seventeen-year-old, I had an interesting situation. I was still school-aged. I never thought about how almost every Victor was still young enough to go to school after their Games. I did go back to school, even though I was legally allowed to drop out. People did swarm me a little bit there, asking me questions and pretending to have been my friend. I ignored them. I made myself a friend group, and we met every Thursday, replacing the old meetings. We discussed books, or poetry, or even philosophy. Kelsie revealed that she was a poet, and she helped me learn how to write, which was good. I needed a talent, and even though I stank at poetry, the Capitol wouldn't care. They would just flaunt me.

* * *

 **There we have it! My first ever epilogue. I know fishing for reviews is silly, but this is for a good cause. Please review and criticize me. It's my first epilogue, so I have nowhere to go but up, and I could really use other peoples' opinions on what was good and what wasn't. I can't improve if I don't know where I messed up XD**


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